McCarthy proposes five Republicans to sit on the January 6 panel

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Washington (AP) — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has selected five Republicans to join a new special committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol riots.

McCarthy said on Monday that Indiana Congressman Jim Banks, who recently visited former President Donald Trump on a trip to the US-Mexico border and Trump’s New Jersey Golf Club, was selected as the top Republican on the panel. Republican leaders have also recruited Ohio’s Jim Jordan, Illinois’ Rodney Davis, North Dakota’s Kelly Armstrong, and Texas’ Troy Nels to serve on the committee. Nominated.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi must approve the name before it becomes final, in accordance with the rules of the Commission. Pelosi’s aide said he had received a notice from McCarthy, but it is unclear when and whether to approve Republicans. The aide was granted anonymity to discuss the Republican election prior to the official announcement.

All five Republicans elected by McCarthy supported Trump. Trump supporters besieged the Capitol on January 6 and suspended proof of President Joe Biden’s victory. Banks, Jordan and Neels all voted to overturn Biden’s victory of the day, even after the riots. Davis and Armstrong were one of the Republican minorities who voted to prove Biden’s victory.

McCarthy’s election all but two Republicans opposed the creation of a 13-member special committee in a house vote last month, and most GOPs claimed that a majority of Democratic committees would conduct a partisan investigation. The House Democrats initially sought to create an evenly divided and independent committee to investigate the rebellion, but that effort was inadequate when blocked by the Senate Republicans.

House Republicans remained largely loyal to Trump, even though the violent rebellion of their supporters ran many of them for their lives. The bank said in a statement Monday evening that he would take a politically militant approach to his leadership in the panel and sharply criticize the Democrats who set it up.

“Undoubtedly, Nancy Pelosi set up this committee just to hurt the conservatives and justify the authoritarian agenda on the left,” Banks said.

Jordan, one of Trump’s two most stubborn defenders of the impeachment and a top Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee, said the investigation was “impeachment 3” against the former president after the House vote. He said he believed. Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives and acquitted by the Senate.

Members selected by McCarthy responded differently to the riots that took place on January 6. While Jordan led efforts to overturn the election results, other members tweeted the riots to end or blame the violence.

“Thanks to the Capitol police and all law enforcement agencies,” Armstrong tweeted shortly after the house was evacuated that afternoon. “The riot is not protesting. We need to stop this. Now.”

Around the same time, Davis tweeted. “Today is a sad day for our country. We must stop lawlessness. Protesters must leave the Capitol so that Congress can resume the process of confirming the votes of the Electoral College. “

Former sheriff Neels was one of several members who helped barricade the doors of the house when the mob tried to defeat the doors of the house. He tweeted a photo of his Associated Press holding a door with the Capitol police — facing a mob who broke the front door glass.

“I was proud to stand side by side with the Capitol police barricades at the entrance to our holy house room while trying to calm the situation talking to the protesters. “Nehls tweeted. “What I’m witnessing is shame. We’re better than this. Violence is by no means the answer. Law and order!”

A week later, all five members voted against Trump’s impeachment, which told supporters in Washington on January 6 to “fight like hell” to overturn the election defeat. I did.

Mississippi parliamentarian Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the special committee, said he had never seen the Republican name on Monday night but referred the matter to Pelosi. “It’s up to her,” he said.

Pelosi nominated eight members of the committee earlier this month — seven Democrats and Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney strongly criticized Trump and the most outspoken member of her caucuses against the riots. Met. Chainy, who was demoted from GOP leadership in May in her comment, was one of the two Republicans who voted in favor of forming the committee, along with Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

McCarthy had been silent about joining the Republican panel for weeks, so Thompson said the commission had a quorum to do business with or without Republicans in attendance.

The new members will be tested at the first hearing of the panel next week, and at least four general police officers who fought the riots that day will testify about their experience. Dozens of police officers were injured as crowds pushed them away and broke into the Capitol building.

Seven people died during and after the riot. Among them are a woman shot by police while trying to break into a room in her house and three other Trump supporters who suffered from a medical emergency. In the days that followed, two police officers committed suicide, and a third police officer, Brian Sicknick, collapsed and later died after engaging protesters. The coroner determined that he had died of natural cause.

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Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report.

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