Pelosi taps Liz Cheney and seven Dems for Capitol riot investigation committee after Republican voted to impeach Trump
NANCY Pelosi has tapped up Liz Cheney for the Capitol riot investigation committee after the Republican voted to impeach Donald Trump.
Cheney will join seven Democrats to investigate the violent January 6 insurrection in a panel chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson.
House Speaker Pelosi said on Thursday: "We're very honored and proud that she has agreed to serve on the committee."
Cheney she is "honored" to serve on the committee and that "Congress is obligated to conduct a full investigation of the most serious attack on our Capitol since 1814."
The committee will investigate what went wrong when hundreds of Trump supporter broke into the Capitol.
It was approved by the House on Wednesday over the objections from Republicans.
Cheney, who was removed from GOP leadership this year because of her criticism of Trump, was one of only two Republicans who supported forming the committee.
Pelosi, D-Calif., formed the panel after Senate Republicans blocked an independent, bipartisan probe.
Republicans have branded a “turbo-charged partisan exercise” instead of an “honest fact-finding body.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had even threatened to strip Republicans of committee assignments if they accept the appointment to join the committee, an aide said Thursday.
Cheney of Wyoming and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois broke from the GOP to back the select committee on Wednesday.
Pelosi confirmed on Monday she would be appointing eight members of the 13 members (including its chairperson) to the committee and five would be appointed “after consultation” with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
But Pelosi carries supreme powers to override McCarthy’s requests.
There were two bipartisan Senate committees that convened earlier in June that submitted a report that would fortify the Capital’s security to ward off future riots but did little to determine what caused the siege.
Cheney, a Republican who has proven to be an outspoken opponent of former President Donald Trump, said her party cowered when it should be meeting the moment.
"Since January 6th, the courage of my party's leaders has faded.
"But the threat to our Republic has not," she added.
She then claimed the Jan. 6 Capital committee’s success will rely on it acting and deliberating “sober, professional, and non-partisan.”
Trump's supporters laid siege to the Capitol on January 6 claiming the incumbent president was the victor while Congress certified Trump's loss to President Joe Biden.
New York Rep John Katko issued a statement on Monday in which he panned Pelosi’s push for a select committee and said he would have a “hard time” imagining he would participate.
Katko was among the House Republicans who struck a deal on a bipartisan probe that would have included five representatives from each party.
Yet after this commission was shot down by Republicans in the Senate, Pelosi is seeking other ways to investigate
She announced last week that she would propose a 13-person panel, appointing eight members herself.
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As she announced the select committee last week, the House Speaker called the riot "one of the darkest days in our nation's history" and insisted that her committee will probe "the facts and causes of the attack."
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She added that the group will have "as long as it takes" to investigate.
She introduced the bill to establish the committee on Tuesday morning.