politics

Republicans Who Voted to Block Biden’s Election to Investigate Capitol Riot

Photo: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

On January 6, Representatives Jim Banks, Jim Jordan, and Troy Nehls voted against the certification of Arizona’s and Pennsylvania’s 2020 electoral votes for Joe Biden — even after rioters sieged the U.S. Capitol building seeking to stop Biden from becoming president. “Eighty million Americans, 80 million of our fellow citizens, Republicans and Democrats, have doubts about this election. And 60 million people, 60 million Americans, think it was stolen,” Jordan said. “But Democrats say, ‘No problem. No worries. Everything’s fine.’”

Now, those same three lawmakers have been offered the opportunity to serve on the committee formed to investigate the insurrection. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced his picks for the select committee on Monday, naming them to the panel along with two Republicans who did not object to the election certification: Rodney Davis of Illinois and Kelly Armstrong of Alabama.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi named seven people to the committee earlier in the month, including Bennie Thompson as chairman; former impeachment managers Jamie Raskin, Zoe Lofgren, and Adam Schiff; and Liz Cheney, a Republican who lost her position in Republican House leadership for her criticism of Donald Trump’s role in the Capitol riot.

Banks said he has accepted McCarthy’s appointment as ranking member but criticized the panel as being biased against conservatives for not investigating “hundreds of violent political riots last summer.”

“Make no mistake, Nancy Pelosi created this committee solely to malign conservatives and to justify the left’s authoritarian agenda,” Banks said in a statement.

“Even then, I will do everything possible to give the American people the facts about the lead-up to January 6, the riot that day, and the responses from Capitol leadership and the Biden administration. I will not allow this committee to be turned into a forum for condemning millions of Americans because of their political beliefs,” he added.

Pelosi, who will have the final say on who serves on the committee, told CNN that she is considering McCarthy’s “proposals” but that one’s certification vote on January 6 was “not a criterion for service.”

The January 6 select committee will hold its first hearing next Tuesday and will include testimony from members of the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department. That list includes D.C. police officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges, whose injuries at the hands of rioters were publicized in the hours of footage released after the Capitol attack.

Republicans Who Objected to Biden Win to Be on Jan. 6 Panel