Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Calif.) spotlighted House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who could become the next Speaker, after the House committee investigating the Capitol riot released its lengthy final report Thursday.
“The unsung hero of the Jan 6 committee, is @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy, who pulled his choices to obstruct the investigation allowing for a smooth bipartisan investigation and presentation to America,” Kinzinger tweeted on Friday. “Thanks Kevin!”
Kinzinger serves on that committee. Alongside Liz Cheney, he is among just two Republicans who have been on the panel after Kevin McCarthy withdrew all his picks following Nancy Pelosi’s rejection of two out of the five. Subsequent legal challenges have singled out the legal standing of the panel considering the lack of official involvement by the chamber’s minority. Federal judges dealing with those contentions have in part deferred to the House itself, which repeatedly opted to view the panel’s work as legitimate by way of voting to approve referrals to the Justice Department for prosecution of several allies of Trump on allegations of contempt of Congress. Those contempt allegations — which for two culminated in charges — related to refusals to comply with subpoenas from the riot committee.
The riot committee referred several Republicans in the House for investigation by the chamber’s ethics panel over their own refusals to cooperate with subpoenas. A statement subsequently issued by a spokesperson for Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, who was among those named, complained about the lack of official involvement by the House minority in the panel — but it was McCarthy’s choice to not have any Republicans he chose in the group.
Nancy Pelosi, who will soon be departing both her role as Speaker and Democratic leadership, appointed both Cheney and Kinzinger. Jordan was one of the official Republican picks for the committee who she originally rejected. Imagine how chaotic the committee’s work could have been if Jordan, Greene, or Gaetz — or Gosar, Biggs, or Boebert — were on the panel! Instead, the committee was largely unanimous throughout the investigative process. The panel voted completely in favor of recommending Trump for federal prosecution.
Besides its lengthy final report, the riot panel is also in the process of releasing transcripts of witness interviews it conducted. A recently released transcript detailing a sit-down with far-right activist Alexander Bruesewitz revealed Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) was in touch with leaders of the “Stop the Steal” movement as the riot took place, updating a group chat that a lockdown covering his Congressional office was ongoing — so the coordination between those essentially on the ground and certain Republicans in Congress was active and expansive. Bruesewitz was not accused of violence or participating in the attack itself, though he evidently joined the large rally held in the capital that day.
