Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked two GOP picks to serve on a panel created to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Pelosi said Wednesday she won’t allow Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana or Jim Jordan of Ohio to participate, even though the Republican lawmakers were selected by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to serve on the committee.
TOP REPUBLICAN NAMES FIVE LAWMAKERS TO SERVE ON HOUSE RIOT COMMITTEE
“With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,” the California Democrat said in a statement.
“The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision.”
Democrats, who control the House, appointed eight members to the committee. Republicans have only five seats on the committee. Pelosi told McCarthy she has no objections to the three other GOP lawmakers he appointed “and requested that he recommend two other members to replace Jordan and Banks.
Jordan is the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and has been a staunch defender of President Donald Trump, who Democrats blame for inciting the riot. Banks heads the conservative Republican Study Committee.
Banks tweeted earlier this week that Pelosi “created the committee solely to malign conservatives & justify the Left’s authoritarian agenda.” He called on Democrats to also investigate the murder of Capitol Police officer Billy Evans, who was killed earlier this year by a man who aimed his car at officers guarding the entrance to the Senate side of the Capitol.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Pelosi has stacked the panel with top Trump foes, including Republican Liz Cheney, of Wyoming, whose opposition to the former president cost her the No. 3 GOP leadership post in the House.
Three of the Democratic lawmakers on the panel served as impeachment managers in the two unsuccessful attempts to remove Trump from office.
The committee is scheduled to convene for the first time next week and will hear testimony from law enforcement officers injured during the riot.
