The fallout from Wednesday’s fireworks regarding the House committee in charge of investigating the Capitol riot carried over into Thursday, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy both making statements. The video above shows portions of both their statements.
Pelosi defended her decision to reject two of McCarthy’s picks for the committee, Representatives Jim Banks and Jim Jordan. “They had made statements and taken actions that I think would impact the integrity of the commission of the committee, the work of the committee,” Pelosi said. “These people are going to act up, cause a problem, and people said to me, ‘put them on and then when they act up, you can take them off’. I said, ‘why should we waste time on something as predictable?”
The two men are outspoken allies of former President Donald Trump, whose supporters laid siege to the Capitol that day. In the hours after the insurrection, they both voted to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
Later Thursday morning, McCarthy responded, calling the committee a “sham”, and “politically driven”. “For her to pick and choose who can serve on, to say that the ranking member of judiciary who would have jurisdiction cannot serve,” McCarthy said. “When she decides that Jim Banks, who served his nation in the Navy in Afghanistan, that he can’t serve here.”
McCarthy said the unprecedented nature of Pelosi’s action “puts a great deal of doubt in” the legitimacy of the committee. Pelosi said “while this may be unprecedented, so was an attack on the Capitol.”
It is unclear, for now, whether Pelosi will try and appoint other members to the panel. She said she has the authority to do so under committee rules.
Also unclear, how McCarthy would lead a separate investigation, like he said he would do in a statement. As the minority leader, he does not have the power to set up committees.