January 6 Investigation: Pelosi Says “No Thanks” to GOP Obstruction
It’s a measure of just how absurd things have become that too many in the chattering class are whining about the makeup of the House select committee on January 6th.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected Jims Banks and Jordan as participants in the inquiry into the storming of the Capitol building by people with less-than-honorable intentions.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy responded by saying it was all or nothing when it came to his five recommendations to serve on the committee.
Now Politico and other outfits have posited that the notion of a bipartisan investigation was the only path to credible conclusions or recommendations.
It should be among the most important oversight investigations Congress has ever conducted. But the select committee on Jan. 6 hasn’t even had its first hearing and it’s already consumed by drama after Speaker NANCY PELOSI’s decision to reject two GOP appointees.
And…(CNN)
No matter Pelosi's reasoning, her decision to reject Jordan and Banks, the two most high-profile Republicans put forward by McCarthy, dooms even the possibility of the committee being perceived as bipartisan or its eventual findings being seen as independent.
Those holding this view (and there are many) have obviously had their common sense dulled by what passed for inquiries during the Trump era.
Here’s Greg Sargent at the Washington Post with the question of the day:
What sort of inquiry into Jan. 6 would Republicans declare to be a legitimate one?
The fox guarding the chicken coop isn’t normal. Neither is foisting a circus on the American people as opposed to a sane and sober review of the facts. It’s one thing to disagree; it’s another to obstruct justice.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1418233126405345281?s=20
The two rejected Republicans had already made their intentions clear, namely to distort, deflect, and denigrate an inquiry.
Banks wanted to include inquiries into civil unrest in the months following the murder of George Floyd. Jordan’s ploy --which will now be the focus of McCarthy’s GOP investigation-- was blaming Pelosi for not having adequate security on hand.
https://twitter.com/sandibachom/status/1418050221251174401?s=20
There seems to be no memory in much of the media about the fate of the independent and nonpartisan investigation of the events on January 6 (ala 9/11 commission) killed by Sen. Mitch McConnell by filibuster in May.
The commission legislation was a product of cross-party negotiations among leaders of the House Homeland Security Committee, and it had galvanized significant support among Republicans in the lower chamber. Last week, 35 GOP House members joined all voting House Democrats to back the creation of a Jan. 6 commission, to be modeled after a similar independent panel formed in the aftermath of 9/11 and charged with producing an objective account of what fueled the day’s violence.
But in the Senate, Republican sentiment soured after McConnell dismissed the commission as needlessly duplicative of congressional probes — and as a Trojan horse that would help Democrats in next year’s midterm elections.
Treating the decision of the Speaker of the House to remove obstacles to getting the truth out as a partisan issue erases the profound moral differences between being anti-democracy and pro-democracy.
The intent of the insurgents and the rhetoric of the Republican leadership was to interfere in a peaceful transfer of power. The Big Lie continues to be the basis for their actions, and defending it would have been the objective of their provocateurs on the House committee.
The one Republican named to the select committee by Speaker Pelosi wasn’t going anywhere:
Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday blasted House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy over his "disingenuous" comments about the select committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
"The rhetoric that we have heard from the minority leader is disingenuous," Cheney told reporters at the Capitol, adding that the riot was "an attack on our Constitution."
"At every opportunity, the minority leader has attempted to prevent the American people from understanding what happened to block this investigation," she continued. "The idea that anybody would be playing politics with an attack on the United States Capitol is despicable and disgraceful."
The House select committee will begin hearings on Tuesday, July 27, starting with the testimony of police officers who were at the Capitol on January 6.
Which explains this rant on Fox…
https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1418009659143856132?s=20
FYI- The Fox News host was referring to a tweet from Dunn’s account, in which he opined: “Racism is so American, that when you protest it, people think you are protesting America!”
Since the GQP won’t have people on the inside to attack witnesses, they’ll have to leave it to Faux News.
***
Hey folks! Be sure to like/follow Words & Deeds on Facebook. If you’d like to have each post emailed to you check out the simple subscription form on the right side of the front page.
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com