Sunday, July 25, 2021

Democrats Claim McCarthy Tried to Make 1/6 Commission 'Big Lie' Circus, Defend Rejecting Picks

 

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a man in a suit standing in front of a mirror: Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats have spoken in defense of blocking Kevin McCarthy's Select Committee appointees. In this photo, Pelosi and King Abdullah II of Jordan participate in a photo op in the Speaker’s Balcony Hallway, July 22, 2021 in Washington, DC.© Alex Wong/Getty Images Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats have spoken in defense of blocking Kevin McCarthy's Select Committee appointees. In this photo, Pelosi and King Abdullah II of Jordan participate in a photo op in the Speaker’s Balcony Hallway, July 22, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats have defended the recent decision to block House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's picks for the January 6 House Select Committee investigating the U.S. Capitol attack.

McCarthy put forward notably pro-Trump GOP Congressmen Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana, but Pelosi made the unprecedented call to block their inclusion.

Pelosi and others have defended this choice, claiming that the inclusion of such staunch Trump-supporting Republicans would cause the committee's work to devolve into political drama.

Furthermore, Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) accused McCarthy of attempting to turn the Select Committee "into a circus of people that promoted the Big Lie."

"We tried to do this in an independent, international commission," Cicilline said during an appearance on MSNBC on Sunday. "The Republicans refused. Kevin McCarthy then made some appointments that made it clear that he's not serious and he wants to turn this into a circus of people who have been promoting the Big Lie."

Pelosi Says She Will Not Let Republican 'Antics' Interfere With Jan. 6 Committee

Pelosi herself touched on the matter during a Sunday appearance on ABC News' This Week. The House Speaker defended the legitimacy of the Select Committee going forward, even without appointees from the House Republicans.


Video: McCarthy to pull all Republican appointees to Jan. 6th committee (MSNBC)

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"I do believe the work of this committee — in order to retain the confidence of the American people — must act in a way that has no partisanship [and] is all about patriotism," Pelosi said. "We have to, again, ignore the antics of those who do not want to find the truth. We will find the truth, that truth will have the confidence of the American people because it will be done patriotically and not in a partisan way."

In the interest of bipartisanship, Pelosi also mentioned in the same interview that she intends to name Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to the committee. She explained that she intends to make the official announcement after speaking with Kinzinger himself.

"I'm not going to announce it right this minute, but you could say that is the direction that I would be going on," Pelosi explained. "[Kinzinger] and other Republicans have expressed an interest to serve on the Select Committee and I've wanted to appoint three of the members that Leader McCarthy suggested but he withdrew their names."

Kinzinger has distinguished himself from the rest of the Republican Party as an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump. Were he to be officially added to the Select Committee, he would join fellow Republican and Trump detractor, Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY), the only other GOP member currently on the committee. Cheney voted in favor of Trump's second impeachment following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Newsweek has reached out to the offices of Pelosi, McCarthy and Kinzinger for this story, but have yet to hear back.

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