Pelosi Announces Kinzinger To Riot Investigation In Blow To GOP

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has now indicated that it’s her “plan” to add Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) to the committee that the House has set up to investigate the January riot at the Capitol. Assuming that his joining of the committee goes through, Kinzinger is set to be the second Republican on the panel, alongside Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.). Both Kinzinger and Cheney were among the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection after the riot, while they were the only two House Republicans who supported the creation of the House committee investigating the violence.

Asked on Sunday if she intended to appoint “more Republicans… like… Adam Kinzinger” to the investigative committee, Pelosi told ABC host George Stephanopoulos: “That would be my plan.” Previously, Pelosi rejected two picks that House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made for the panel, after which McCarthy withdrew all five of his selections for the committee, refusing to participate. McCarthy, like most other House Republicans, opposed the initial creation of the committee, which seems poised to lay out just how the conspiracy theories that top Republicans have spread led to the deadly violence at the Capitol on January 6. The violence was inspired by Trump’s lie that systematic fraud swung last year’s election, and as such, the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol that day sought to forcibly block the formal certification by Congress of Biden’s win.

Pelosi also stated as follows, discussing the overall work of the committee:

‘I do believe that the work of this committee, in order to retain the confidence of the American people, must act in a way that has no partisanship, is all about patriotism. And I’m very proud of the members of the committee, and I’m very certain they will accomplish that goal. We have to again ignore the antics of those who do not want to find the truth.’

The committee in question is set to hold its first hearing in coming days, which is slated to feature testimony from four local officers. During the riot, Trump supporters violently assaulted scores of officers, leaving some with serious injuries. D.C. officer Michael Fanone, for instance — who’s set to be at that hearing — was dragged by Trump supporters away from a group of officers, beaten, and repeatedly tased at the base of his skull. And again — this violence was perpetrated by avowed supporters of Donald Trump.