GOP leaders are opposing the Democrat trap of forming a 9/11-style commission to investigate the January 6 event, otherwise known as H.R 3233, and have called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for falsely claiming that she gave House Republicans the opportunity for a counterproposal.
Pelosi’s proposed commission is not only a direct attack on Republicans who’ve endured the horrors of Black Lives Matter-led riots all last summer, but could potentially interfere with the ongoing investigations into January 6th by the Federal Bureau of Investigation right now. It would undermine their ability to prosecute those who have committed crimes to the fullest extent of the law.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, the new House Republican Conference Chair, recently told reporters that she would oppose Pelosi’s legislation in the House to create a January 6 commission. If there is to be any commission, Rep. Stefanik suggested one that addresses the “growing threat of political violence broadly,” rather than solely focusing on one event to be used as a political tool for far-left Democrats.
“It fails to address the broad scope of political violence including the shooting of Republicans at a Congressional baseball practice, the destruction and violence by Black Lives Matter and Antifa, the events of January 6th, and the tragic murder of Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans on Good Friday,” Rep. Stefanik said.
The 2017 shooting of Republicans at a Congressional baseball practice left Minority Whip Steve Scalise hospitalized. Additionally, GOP lawmakers have said that the commission should include the deadly attack on Capitol police in April, where a man drove into officers stationed at a Capitol barricade.
Former President Donald Trump also released a statement opposing the legislation and says he hopes GOP leaders Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell listen. He said Republicans should be “tougher and much smarter” in order to stop being used by the radical left. He called it “just more partisan unfairness” and suggested starting a commission to study the murders, riots, and fire bombings last year in Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle, Chicago, and New York.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stated that there were 570 protests and 220 U.S locations that turned violent last summer. “Are those not insurrections? Plus billion dollars in riot damages is estimated to be the most expensive in insurance history…we should have the commission to study the violent BLM and Antifa mobs that have plagued American cities this past summer,” she tweeted.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has also opposed the January 6 commission and said Speaker Pelosi has turned a blind eye to anything that does not benefit the Democrats’ narrative. She has ignored investigations inside the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration but has allocated $10 million to “conduct a full, apolitical review” of any outstanding Capitol security measures.
“Republican requests for fair representation and an unbiased premise from which to begin such an investigation were always understood to be the starting point for bipartisan negotiations, not the end result,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy cited the DOJ and Senate investigations already taking place, where FBI agents have arrested nearly 450 people and are planning to arrest another 100. Meanwhile, BLM and Antifa rioters are not facing charges on the same level.
GOP operative Arthur Schwartz also agreed with McCarthy’s rejection. He tweeted that every Republican should follow McCarthy on this “until Democrats agree to investigate the months of rioting by Biden voters that destroyed American businesses and cities.”
Minority Whip Steve Scalise also said it was a “shame” that Speaker Pelosi was not working in a bipartisan way to ensure that suggestions are being brought forth by all members. “You’ve surely seen House Democrats run in a very unilateral way, where they’re shutting an entire party out of the debate and that’s unfortunate because we should be having a bipartisan debate about this,” he said.
The scale needs to be clearly balanced and not tilted one way so that they can have an objective evaluation. This isn’t about January 6, it’s about giving the harshest conviction to Republicans for trespassing on property.
How about a November 3rd commission to investigate election rigging?
