It seems Democrats in Washington know how to achieve bipartisanship: Instead of debate and compromise, they only work with Republicans who agree with them.
And in true Soviet style, in the case of the House special committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, they are seeking to reach a preordained verdict by selecting jurors they know will only vote guilty.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed this by announcing on Sunday that she would appoint GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger to the panel. And Kinzinger accepted.
In a statement on Sunday, Kinzinger the American people “deserve transparency and truth on how and why thousands showed up to attack our democracy” on Jan. 6.
“This moment requires a serious, clear-eyed, non-partisan approach. We are duty-bound to conduct a full investigation on the worst attack on the Capitol since 1814 and to make sure it can never happen again.”
“Let me be clear,” he added, “I’m a Republican dedicated to conservative values, but I swore an oath to uphold and defense the Constitution – and while this is not the position I expected to be in or sought out, when duty calls, I will always answer.”
Despite that, without a doubt, Kinzinger will do Pelosi’s bidding while on the committee.
The Illinois Republican has been a frequent critic of former President Donald Trump. He also voted to impeach Trump after the riot.
After the impeachment vote, Kinzinger said Trump had “incited this insurrection,” and added that “if these actions — the Article II branch inciting a deadly insurrection against the Article I branch — are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense?”
In addition to Kinzinger, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney will also serve on the special committee. Cheney, too, blamed Trump for the riot and voted to impeach him, saying, that the 45th president “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.”
The opening Kinzinger filled occurred when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled all GOP nominees after Pelosi rejected Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana.
Pelosi had said she accepted McCarthy’s other picks: Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, and Rodney Davis of Illinois.
But McCarthy recalled them after Pelosi refused Jordan and Banks.
“Pelosi has broken this institution,” McCarthy said last week.
Cheney said recently that she agreed with Pelosi’s decision to turn down Jordan and Banks, criticizing McCarthy for failing to show a “commitment to the Constitution and a commitment to the rule of law.”
Pelosi obviously doesn’t want anyone on the panel who may raise the Democrats’ culpability in the debacle – by, for instance, challenging Pelosi’s decision-making since she, as speaker, was in charge of Capitol security that day, or question why the mayor Washington refused Trump’s offer of additional National Guard troops.
But Pelosi still has eight other Republicans who voted to impeach Trump to pick from.
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