Report: Pelosi Is Considering Anti-Trump Republican for Jan. 6 Select Committee
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering the addition of anti-Trump Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger to her Jan. 6 House select committee, according to CNN’s Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona.
“We’ll see,” Pelosi reportedly said during a Thursday news conference, in response to questions about an additional Republican joining the committee.
“I mean, there are some members that would like to be on it,” Pelosi added. “But, we’ll see.”
And @BennieGThompson, chairman of the select committee, confirmed to @mkraju just now that the idea of adding Kinzinger “has been discussed.”
He added that Kinzinger would be a “welcome addition”
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) July 22, 2021
According to Zanona, Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the select committee, said Kinzinger “has been discussed” and would be a “welcome addition.”
Kinzinger was one of 10 Republican House members who joined Democrats in the vote to impeach former President Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol incursion. Committee member and Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney served as one of the others who supported Trump’s impeachment.
Pelosi rejected Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana on Wednesday as members of her committee to investigate the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“Monday evening, the Minority Leader recommended 5 Members to serve on the Select Committee. I have spoken with him this morning about the objections raised about Representatives Jim Banks and Jim Jordan and the impact their appointments may have on the integrity of the investigation,” Pelosi wrote in a statement.
“I also informed him that I was prepared to appoint Representatives Rodney Davis, Kelly Armstrong and Troy Nehls, and requested that he recommend two other Members,” she added.
Pelosi also provided a brief explanation regarding her rejection of the two GOP House members.
“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,” she wrote.
“The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision,” the speaker added.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy selected the GOP’s five members to serve on Pelosi’s select committee.
But on Wednesday, he signaled Republicans would “not be party” to Democrats’ “sham process” unless Pelosi changed her tune.
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi has taken the unprecedented step of denying the minority party’s picks for the Select Committee on January 6,” he said in a statement.
“This represents an egregious abuse of power and will irreparably damage this institution. Denying the voices of members who have served in the military and law enforcement, as well as leaders of standing committees, has made it undeniable that this panel has lost all legitimacy and credibility and shows the Speaker is more interested in playing politics than seeking the truth.
“Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts.”
The five Republicans McCarthy had chosen to serve on the committee were Banks, Jordan, Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong and Texas Rep. Troy Nehls.
Announcing the appointments of Republicans who will serve on House Select Committees: https://t.co/RHzCoQGtcX
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) July 20, 2021
Of those, Jordan has the highest name recognition. Holding his office since 2007, he’s well known for tangling with House Democrats and is widely disliked by those on the political left. In January, then-President Donald Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his service during the first Trump impeachment trial.
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