Rep. Jim Jordan has blamed Nancy Pelosi for allowing rioters to breach the Capitol on January 6, saying it was her responsibility a...
Rep. Jim Jordan has blamed Nancy Pelosi for allowing rioters to breach the Capitol on January 6, saying it was her responsibility as Speaker to have a proper security presence in place.
The Republican Congressman's comments came after he and Jim Banks - both known Trump supporters - were rejected by Pelosi for serving on the special committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.
'The fundamental question is why wasn't there a proper security posture that day? It wasn't like we didn't know there was a rally in town. It wasn’t like we didn’t know it would be a big rally, after all it was a President Trump rally,' the Ohio representative told Fox's Tucker Carlson on Wednesday.
'Why wasn't there a proper security presence? That is a question that only the speaker of the United States House of Representatives can answer.'
'My guess is the reason she didn't have the proper presence there is because - think about what happened last year. The Democrats normalized anarchy.
'They said oh, if you are a rioter or a looter, you are attacking police that we are defunding and you are destroying small business we are going to raise money to bail you out of jail.
'So with that background, she couldn't have the presence that you need that day.'
Republicans have pushed the security question, trying to shift the focus of the riot to Democrats, who are focusing on Trump's role.
Pelosi's office has pushed back, noting neither she nor Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who was leader of the Senate on January 6th, were in charge of security operations.
'I will say again the Speaker of the House is not in charge of the security of the U.S. Capitol Complex any more than former Senate Majority Leader McConnell was on 1/6,' Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill wrote on Twitter.
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (right) blamed Nancy Pelosi for allowing rioters to breach the Capitol on January 6 because she didn't a property security presence in place on Fox's Tucker Carlson's Wednesday night show
Republican Representatives Jim Banks (left) and Jim Jordan were rejected by Speaker Nancy Pelosi for serving on the special committee investigating the Capitol insurrection. Both lawmakers are strong Donald Trump allies
Jordan told Carlson that he believes his nomination to the committee was rejected because 'she just doesn't want to answer that fundamental question or any other questions,' referring to his question about having security in place.
Carlson agreed with Jordan, and added: 'Immediately after January 6th, Pelosi called the army in, built a wall - ironically - around building for the Capitol police, her own Praetorian guard, et cetera. So she is clearly for law enforcement when they protect her.'
Pelosi used her power as speaker to reject Jordan and Banks from the special committee on Wednesday.
In response, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled all five of his Republican nominees to the committee, prompting a day of finger pointing.
Each side accused the other of playing politics with the panel tasked to study the origins and effects of the riot, which resulted in five deaths and damage to historic artifacts in the Capitol.
And each side feared with the other would ask: Democrats putting the focus on former President Donald Trump and his actions that day; Republicans questioning why there wasn't enough security at the Capitol, which would have fallen under Pelosi's purview as Speaker.
McCarthy charged Pelosi with 'playing politics' and creating a 'sham process' with her decision to reject Banks and Jordan, both strong allies of Trump, from serving on the panel.
'This is all political and we have known it from the start,' Jordan told Carlson on his Wednesday show.
Both Jordan and Banks voted to challenge certification of President Joe Biden's election victory and have promoted the false argument that Trump actually won in 2020 and was the victim of election fraud.
Pelosi said in a statement she made her decision based on the 'integrity' of the investigation. As speaker, Pelosi has final say on who sits on the panel.
'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,' Pelosi said in a statement.
'The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision,' she added.
McCarthy slammed Pelosi for her decision.
'Why are you allowing a lame duck speaker to destroy this institution? This is the people's house. Not Pelosi's house,' he said in a hastily arranged press conference on Capitol Hill.
Pelosi is not a lame duck speaker. Republicans would have to win a majority in the 2022 election for that to happen.
McCarthy vowed to hold his own investigation that he said would include a look at Trump's role in the January 6th riot, where the former president's supporters stormed the Capitol to interrupt the certification of Biden's presidential victory.
'This represents an egregious abuse of power and will irreparably damage this institution,' McCarthy said in a statement blasting Pelosi's move, saying it showed 'this panel has lost all legitimacy and credibility and shows the Speaker is more interested in playing politics than seeking the truth.'
The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol's investigation was expected to be highly contentious. The panel will hold its will hold its first hearing in six days, on Tuesday, July 27.
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled all five of his nominees to the special committee investigating the January 6th MAGA riot after Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of them
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected two of House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy's picks, citing integrity of panel investigating January 6th riot
Speaker Pelosi objected to the inclusion of Republican Congressmen Jim Banks (left) and Jim Jordan (center), both strong allies of former President Donald Trump, to the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot
Democrats pushed for the creation of a 9/11-style commission to investigate January 6, but that was tanked by Republicans; Instead the House formed a 1/6 select committee to probe the Capitol riot (pictured)
But Pelosi's rejection of two of the other party's picks is unprecedented. Leaders of the respective parties usually respect each other's decisions.
'We need a comprehensive investigation as to who organized this attack, who paid for it, how they nearly succeeded in overthrowing a presidential election, why they did it and how we must organize ourselves to prevent anything like it from ever happening again,' she said in her statement.
The White House supported Pelosi's move.
'The President has made clear that the shameful events of January 6th deserve a full, independent, and transparent investigation to ensure something like that never happens again, and he has full confidence in the Speaker's ability to lead that work,' Biden spokesman Michael Gwin said in a statement.
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, whom Pelosi appointed to the panel, told CNN she supported the speaker in rejecting the Republican lawmakers for the committee
As did Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, whom Pelosi appointed to the panel.
'I agree with what the Speaker has done,' she told CNN.
She also criticized McCarthy, saying he should not be speaker if Republicans win control of the House in next year's midterm election, arguing he wasn't qualified to be third in line for the presidency.
'Any person who would be third in line to the presidency must demonstrate a commitment to the constitution and a commitment to the rule of law, and Minority Leader McCarthy has not done that,' she said.
Cheney was removed from House leadership after she criticized Trump for his role in encouraging the January 6th MAGA rioters. She was one of 10 House Republicans who voted for his second impeachment.
Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who Pelosi tapped to chair the panel, agreed with the speaker the rejection of Jordan and Banks was about 'integrity.'
'This is about the integrity of the investigation. Period,' he said in a statement.
'It has been more than 6 months since the attack, we owe it to our democracy to stay the course and not be distracted by side-shows. That is exactly what we will be doing next Tuesday, when the bipartisan committee members take testimony from frontline heroes who put their lives on the line to protect our democracy,' he said.
Jordan was among the group of House Republicans who met with Trump in December to help plan the effort to challenge Biden's victory. Democratic members of the committee were considering calling him as a potential witness in their investigation.
He also blasted Pelosi's move as 'politics' and argued: 'The fundamental question of why wasn't there a proper, proper security presence at the Capitol that day.'
Pelosi's spokesperson told DailyMail.com that particular GOP strategy was 'desperate'.
'On January 6th, the Speaker, a target of an assassination attempt that day, was no more in charge of Capitol security than Mitch McConnell was,' Drew Hammill said. 'This is a clear attempt to whitewash what happened on January 6th and divert blame.'
He added: 'I would hope the media would do better and treat this as the utter nonsense that it is.'
Jordan was a fiery defender of Trump when he sat on the panel investigating Trump's first impeachment.
Banks helped arrange for House Republicans to join the former president on a recent trip to the border.
'This just goes to show how partisan of an exercise we said this was all along,' he said Wednesday at the Republicans' press conference. 'She knew we would fight back against their political games, and that's why she didn't want us to participate in this committee.'
He was to serve as ranking member but, shortly after McCarthy appointed him to the panel, Banks put out a statement blasting its creation, saying it was done so 'solely to malign conservatives and to justify the Left's authoritarian agenda.'
McCarthy named his five members of his party to the panel on Monday. He also appointed Rodney Davis, Kelly Armstrong and Troy Nehls to the committee.
Nehls also voted against Biden's election certification. But Pelosi said she would accept those three lawmakers to serve.
Republicans opposed Pelosi's original call for a 9/11-style bipartisan commission. McCarthy opposed it in the House where it passed with Democratic support. But the bill died in the Senate once Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would not support it.
Republicans wanted the commission to have a larger scope - and not just study what happened on January 6, but other acts of so-called 'political violence' including last summer's Black Lives Matter protests.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also had chose Rep. Kelly Armstrong (left) of North Dakota and Rep. Rodney David (right) of Illinois to serve on the 1/6 select committee
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and the five Republicans he appointed to the January 6th committee at a news conference in the Capitol on Wednesday
Pelosi earlier this month announced eight members of the committee, including one Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney, who has been one of the most prominent critics of former President Donald Trump.
McCarthy said at the time he was shocked that Cheney would accept Pelosi's invitation to be on the committee.
The special congressional panel was created to investigate the events leading up to and on January 6, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Democrat Joe Biden from being certified the winner of last November's presidential election against Trump.
Republican leaders resisted any special panel to investigate the deadly Capitol assault, noting existing congressional committees had been doing their own probes and that more than 500 people had already been charged with crimes.
Rep. Troy Nehls, a Republican from Texas, was also picked by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to serve on a 1/6 select committee
Some Republicans have downplayed the attack, with Rep. Andrew Clyde comparing it to a visit by tourists.
Four people died on the day of the violence, one shot dead by police and the other three of natural causes.
A Capitol Police officer who had been attacked by protesters died the following day.
Two police officers who took part in the defense of the Capitol later took their own lives. More than a hundred police officers were injured.
Just before the attack, Trump delivered fiery remarks at the White House and then encouraged his supporters to march to Capitol Hill.
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