White House torches House GOP for 'handing the keys' to purveyors of 'dangerous conspiracy theories'

The White House criticized House Republican leadership over their reinstatement of two controversial members, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), to assignments on the House Oversight Committee, in a statement released to NBC News on Wednesday.

The statement, issued by White House spokesman Ian Sams, was first reported by NBC correspondent Ali Vitali.

"The Biden Administration is stands ready to work in good faith to accommodate Congress' legitimate oversight needs," said Sams. "However, with these members joining the Oversight Committee, it appears that House Republicans may be setting the stage for divorced-from-reality political stunts, instead of engaging in bipartisan work on behalf of the American people."

"Chairman [James] Comer once said his goal was to ensure the Committee's work is 'credible,'" continued Sams, "yet Republicans are handing the keys of oversight to the most extreme MAGA members of the Republican caucus who promote violent rhetoric and dangerous conspiracy theories. These same members have suggested violence against political opponents, with one drawing a bipartisan censure from the House. They have defended and downplayed the violent insurrection against our democracy, and one defied a subpoena in an investigation of his own involvement in January 6. House Republican leaders should explain why they are allowing these individuals to serve on this Committee and reveal ... what secret deals they made to the extreme MAGA members in order to elect a Speaker."

Greene was stripped of her committee assignments after it emerged she promoted social media posts calling for the execution of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Gosar, meanwhile, was censured and removed from his committees after he attended a white nationalist conference and posted a video of himself murdering Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) with a sword.

In addition to the Oversight Committee, Greene was also placed on the Homeland Security Committee, which drew further outrage as she has a history of promoting conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks.