Republicans stooping to 'disturbing' depths to turn Jan. 6 probe into a 'sideshow': MSNBC panelists
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" panelists bashed the five Republican picks to take part in the House investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) chose five GOP lawmakers -- Reps. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Jim Banks (R-IN), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Troy Nehls (R-TX) -- to serve on the investigative committee, and panelist listed a host of reasons they were unqualified to serve.
"Three of the picks [voted against certifying Joe Biden's electoral win], and they did so after the insurrection," said Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire. "The vote came after the rioters breached the Capitol, so it's a clear signal here from Republican leader Kevin McCarthy as to which direction he wants to take the hearings. Sure, two of the members there didn't do that -- they didn't vote to decertify, they did go along with the democratic process and acknowledge that Joe Biden was indeed elected president."
Jordan stands out as particularly unsuited to the task, Lemire said.
"Jim Jordan, as we know, is one of former President Trump's most vocal defenders and has been willing to say untruths in order to defend the president, and we know he still speaks to the former president frequently," Lemire said. "So there's no sense that the House speaker Nancy Pelosi will object to these picks, but we will learn more in the next day or so if that were to be the case. But I think there are real fears among Democrats this is going to be a sideshow. This is going to be more of the same from Republicans, that they will continue to latch onto the 'big lie,' that they will need to contest the election that there were voter irregularities, and continue to downplay what happened on Jan. 6, to try to whitewash the riot that day in order to move forward with their eyes on the midterms next fall."
Another committee nominee was previously fired as a small-town police officer for multiple violations, including destruction of evidence.
"If Speaker Pelosi is looking for one member she may want to think about not approving, it's Congressman Troy Nehls," said MSNBC contributor Kurt Bardella. "This was somebody fired from the Richmond police department in Texas for not handling evidence the right way. When he was fired, the person in charge of that, who made that decision, his commanding officer sent him a letter with more than 20 documented infractions of breaching and breaking with quality. If you are not qualified to be a police department member in Texas how are you qualified to serve on an investigative committee, where you could have access to sensitive and classified information about a domestic terrorist event in the United States of America?"
"This is somebody grossly unqualified, ethically questionable and demonstrated, when given the choice to make the right decision, moral decision or his own personal interest decision that's the side he goes for," Bardella added. "So for Kevin McCarthy to appoint somebody to this committee with this history, who has been fired from law enforcement before, is disturbing."
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