Rep. Banks: Pelosi Is Blocking Certain Lawmakers from January 6 Committee to Avoid Damning Questions About Her Role in the Incursion
One of the two Republicans rejected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her select committee investigating January’s Capitol incursion used an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” to call the speaker’s high-flown rhetoric a smokescreen to cover up her own mistakes.
Pelosi kicked to the curb Republican Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio, both stalwart supporters of former President Donald Trump, shortly after their nominations to the select committee were announced.
“With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,” Pelosi said in a statement issued Wednesday, according to The Washington Post.
“The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy attacked Pelosi for the decision.
“Speaker Pelosi has taken the unprecedented step of denying the minority party’s picks for the select committee on January 6th. This represents something that has not happened in the House before,” McCarthy said. “House Democrats must answer this question: Why are you allowing a lame-duck speaker to destroy this institution? This is the people’s house, not Pelosi’s House.”
On “Fox News Sunday,” Banks said he was rejected because Pelosi wanted to protect herself.
.@GOPLeader is right. Speaker Pelosi is not interested in an investigation. She’s only interested in pushing a narrative.
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) July 25, 2021
The interview is below:
“It’s more clear than ever that Nancy Pelosi is not interested in investigation. She’s only interested in a narrative,” he said, about 46 seconds into the interview
“She claims the reason that she booted me from the committee was because of antics on the part of Jim Jordan and I. In hindsight, what I realize what she means by that now is that we were prepared to ask questions that no one else has asked and demand answers as to why the Capital was vulnerable to an attack on January 6th?” he said.
“Why was there a systemic breakdown of security at the Capitol on January 6th? If you’re going to investigate January 6th, why not ask those questions? That’s all that this comes down to,” he said.
Banks said Pelosi wants to blame Trump for the events of that day, and no amount of fact will be entertained if it could alter that conclusion.
“She has already predetermined a narrative about Donald Trump, about Republicans. She doesn’t want to talk about what happened at the Capitol that day to make sure something like that never happens again,” he said.
Speaker Pelosi trusts @RepAdamSchiff to serve on the January 6th Select Committee, even though Schiff pushed the Russia hoax for years.
But not @RepJimBanks, a veteran, who deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.
What a joke.
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) July 23, 2021
Banks said there are parts of the real story of Jan. 6 Pelosi has a vested interest in ensuring never see the light of day.
“On Wednesday before I found out that I was banned from the committee — I found out, by the way, on Twitter—I was meeting with the head of the U.S. Capitol Police Union who represent the rank-and-file heroes that make up the Capitol Police who protect me, my family, my staff, every single day,” he said (1:46)
“He told me, the head of the Capitol Police union told me, that on January 6, the Capitol Police officers weren’t prepared for what was going to happen even though the head of the Capitol Police had intelligence reports dating back to three weeks before January 6th that something potentially very dangerous could happen that day,” he said.
Banks said the police were at the mercy of those who wanted to take advantage of the situation.
“They weren’t prepared for it, they weren’t trained for it, and maybe most important of all, they weren’t equipped for it. They lacked equipment, basic equipment, to take care of something like what should, at that point, should have been expected would occur,” he said.
Banks said that the real culprit for the leadership failure that day was not wearing a uniform.
“Here’s the bottom line, once you go up to the top of the flagpole of who is in charge of the Capitol Police, who the Capitol Police union chief, they blamed the leadership of the Capitol Police.
“But due to the rules of the United States Capitol, the power structure of the Capitol, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, has more control and authority, and responsibility over the leadership of the Capitol Police than anyone else in the United States Capitol,” he said.
“So, she doesn’t want us to ask these questions because, at the end of the day, she is ultimately responsible for the breakdown of security at the Capitol that happened on January 6,” he said.
The real point, Banks said, said, about the 5:40 mark, is that:
“It’s clear that Pelosi only wants members on this committee who will stick to her talking points and stick to her narrative. That’s why she’s picked the group that she’s already picked, and anyone that she asks to be on this committee from this point moving forward, will be stuck to her narrative, to her point of view.
“There won’t be another side.”
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