House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) released a statement Tuesday opposing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) backwardly focused January 6 commission legislation due to bad-faith negotiations.
McCarthy explained Republicans have been hoodwinked by Pelosi “falsely” claiming “in the press that she had delivered Republicans a counterproposal, when in reality her proposal would not surface until weeks later.”
“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,” he stated.
McCarthy additionally highlighted Pelosi’s “political games” for ignoring bipartisan investigations inside the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, along with an allocation of $10 million to “conduct a full, apolitical review” of any outstanding Capitol security measures.
McCarthy also pointed to Pelosi’s contradictory proposal due to what he called the “presence” of “political violence in American society,” such as the “deadly attack on Capitol Police on April 2, 2021.”
And while Pelosi has turned a blind eye to select incidents that do not benefit the Democrats’ narrative, McCarthy detailed how others have stepped up to perform the job Pelosi spent five months failing to do.
“The Department of Justice has announced 445 arrests in conjunction with the events of January 6, and expect 100 more arrests to follow,” he reminded Pelosi. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation continues to investigate any and all crimes committed that day, and I fully support these individuals being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
GOP leaders have previously said they would NOT urge their conference to vote a certain way. But McCarthy’s opposition will sway a wide swath of his conference to vote NO tomorrow.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 18, 2021
GOP operative Arthur Schwartz agreed with McCarthy’s rejection of the partisan proposal.
“Until democrats agree to investigate the months of rioting by Biden voters that destroyed American businesses & cities, every Republican should be in lockstep with McCarthy on this. [McCarthy] comes out against bipartisan deal on Jan. 6 commission,” he tweeted.
Until democrats agree to investigate the months of rioting by Biden voters that destroyed American businesses & cities, every Republican should be in lockstep with McCarthy on this. @GOPLeader comes out against bipartisan deal on Jan. 6 commission https://t.co/C5euKB1vgv
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) May 18, 2021
Politico reported Pelosi “has scheduled a vote this week on a deal forged with Rep. John Katko (R-NY) establishing a 10-member commission with subpoena power to investigate the Capitol insurrection.”
Katko, however, voted to impeach former President Donald Trump. Trump, in return, called Katko a political hack in his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Chairman of the City of Fulton Republican Committee Marc Holliday has also stated he regrets endorsing Katko to defeat Dan Maffei in 2020:
It has now been almost three months since Katko took his seat in Congress. I, like many, are disgusted and appalled by how he has voted and held himself in Congress so far. Katko has completely abandoned his base and has ignored the voice of the people who put him where he is.
The people of the 24th District voted out Maffei because of his liberal voting and now we have Katko, who has consistently voted with the Democrats. Katko is voting the same as Maffei would have. If the 24th District wanted a Liberal to represent us, we would have re-elected Maffei.
The vote on the January 6 commission legislation is set for May 19.
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