Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wants A January 6 Select Committee, Republicans Want To Sabotage It

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed a House Select Committee to investigate the MAGA/QAnon seditious insurrection on January 6 (and hopefully the the Republican members of Congress who aided and abetted it). Pelosi introduces legislation that would establish select committee to probe Jan. 6 Capitol attack:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday introduced legislation that would create a select committee to probe the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, with an aide suggesting the speaker may include a Republican among her appointees.

The House will hold a procedural vote on the measure Tuesday, and a vote on the legislation itself is expected Wednesday.

Republicans do not want to know the truth. They can’t handle the truth that a number of Republicans, including their “Dear Leader” and his close associates, are implicated in the seditious insurrection. Republicans want to disappear the January 6 seditious insurrection down the memory hole and to pretend that it never happened, or worse, try to revise history and claim that others were responsible for the assault on the Capitol.

This is why they voted against the bipartisan January 6 Commission. It was to coverup their crimes. Now they are plotting to sabotage the January 6 House Select Committee, which they do not have the votes to stop.

Steve Benen explains, Republicans hedge on participating in congressional Jan. 6 probe:

Congressional Republicans may not have fully appreciated just how good a deal Democrats put on the table. Over the course of lengthy negotiations over an independent commission to examine the Jan. 6 attack, Democratic leaders accepted practically every GOP demand.

The result would’ve created a panel evenly split among Democratic and Republican members, which in turn would’ve made it impossible to issue subpoenas the GOP didn’t like. Just as importantly, Dems agreed to a strict time limit: the commission would’ve wrapped up its investigation by the end of the year.

Republicans nevertheless refused to take “yes” for an answer, paving the way for a new process the GOP will like far less.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday introduced a bill to establish a committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol that’s heavily weighted towards Democrats after Senate Republicans scuttled a bipartisan deal last month…. The bill, which was expected to go to the Rules Committee on Monday night and then the House floor on Wednesday, puts Pelosi firmly in control of the process.

According to the new plan, Pelosi will appoint 13 members of the new special select committee — every member will be a sitting House lawmaker — five of whom will be appointed after “consultation” with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

That would appear to set the stage for a Democratic majority on the panel — eight members to five — though Pelosi is reportedly considering appointing a Republican of her own to the committee, which in turn would give Dems a narrower seven-to-six advantage.

Among the Republicans the Speaker is reportedly considering are Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), both of whom broke with their party on matters related to January’s insurrectionist violence.

Unlike the independent commission the GOP chose to reject, the special select committee will have subpoena power, a dedicated staff, no firm deadline, and a Democratic chair chosen by Pelosi. It will be well positioned to get answers.

Time for Democrats to go all Benghazi! on these damn traitorous seditious insurrectionists. That’s why Republicans plan to sabotage the Select Committee to coverup their crimes.

What’s less clear is whether Republicans will care.  GOP leaders might simply refuse to name anyone to a select committee, which wouldn’t derail its investigation, but which would make it appear more of a partisan exercise.

“The speaker is seriously considering including a Republican among her eight appointments to the Select Committee,” a Pelosi aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity because that person was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter, said in an email.

Pelosi’s move to form a select 13-member committee comes one month after Senate Republicans blocked an effort to create an independent, bipartisan commission.

The panel will investigate the facts and causes of the assault that left five dead and nearly 140 officers attacked as they faced rioters armed with ax handles, bats, metal batons, wooden poles, hockey sticks and other weapons, authorities said. The riot led to the impeachment of President Donald Trump on a charge of “incitement of insurrection.”

In a statement Monday, Pelosi said that Democrats “are determined to find the truth.”

“Sadly, as of last week, there remains no prospect for additional votes from Republican Senators to create the National Commission to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol Complex. . . . January 6th was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history. It is imperative that we establish the truth of that day and ensure such an attack cannot again happen,” Pelosi said.

The select committee’s probe will provide recommendations to help prevent similar attacks in the future, Pelosi announced at a news conference last week.

According to the legislation, Pelosi would have the power to appoint eight members to the panel, while five members would be selected “after consultation with” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

McCarthy last week declined to say whether he plans to appoint members to the committee — and notably did not commit to refrain from choosing lawmakers who have made comments minimizing the events of Jan. 6.

Pelosi must reject any attempt by traitor McCarthy to put any of the 139 Republicans who voted against certifying the Electoral College vote, i.e., the Sedition Caucus, which includes McCarthy, from serving on the January 6 Select Committee. This would be putting the accomplices who aided and abetted, or at least provided aid and comfort, to the seditious insurrectionists on January 6 on the Select Committee. Such a lawless act by Republicans would be a travesty of justice, compounding their crimes on January 6.

The chair of the panel would have subpoena power, meaning that Democrats could seek to compel the testimony of aides and lawmakers — potentially including McCarthy — who were in contact with Trump in the days leading up to and during the insurrection.

On Friday, Kevin McCarthy wouldn’t commit to choosing any members to serve on Jan. 6 select committee. This morning, the Republican leadership offered more of the same.

House Republicans remained noncommittal Tuesday about whether they would participate in a select committee proposed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to probe the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, with Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) telling reporters he “can’t say” what will happen…. “I can’t answer that question,” Scalise said when asked whether Republicans will be seated on the panel

Common sense may suggest that GOP leaders will pick five of their most unhinged members in order to create a circus that detracts from the investigation and its findings. But what wasn’t clear until this week is that such a tactic won’t be that easy: according to Pelosi, the legislation to create the special select committee gives her the authority to reject McCarthy’s selections if he chooses crackpots.

Well played, Nancy. Well played.

If Republican leaders agree to participate in the process, the party will at least have a theoretical role in helping shape the investigation and learning in real time what the committee is uncovering. If GOP leaders balk at the whole endeavor, the party will find it easier to dismiss the eventual findings as “partisan” — though they’re all but certain to do that anyway.