Tag: GOP trying to whitewash Trump insurrection

Ron Johnson exposes the real reason why GOP lawmakers would not support the Jan 6 commission

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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) claims House Republican lawmakers were concerned about becoming “media roadkill” if they had voted against the formation of a January 6 commission to further investigate the Capitol insurrection. 

On Friday, Johnson appeared on Fox News with primetime host Tucker Carlson where he discussed the 35 Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of the bill designed to establish a commission for the investigation into the series of events that unfolded on January 6. According to Johnson, those lawmakers who sided with House Democrats are influenced by the media.

This week, the bill advanced to the Senate after a 252 – 175 vote.  Continue reading.

Republicans try but can’t escape Jan. 6

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Republicans would really like to move beyond Jan. 6, but it’s not going very well. 

Four months into the Biden administration, as GOP leaders are racing to shift the focus away from the violent attack by a pro-Trump mob at the Capitol, they’re being forced to confront the rampage at every turn.  

Democrats are charging ahead with plans for deep-dive investigations into the assault. Continue reading.

GOP efforts to downplay danger of Capitol riot increase

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Attempts to whitewash the violence of the Jan. 6 insurrection and cast the rioters as sympathetic characters are becoming increasingly common among Republican members of Congress.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) this week said it was a “false narrative” to say “there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the Capitol,” while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said the rioters charged with crimes were facing overly harsh treatment in jail and questioned why Congress isn’t also investigating liberal protests over racial justice last year that at times turned violent.

Other Republicans in recent days have falsely claimed the rioters weren’t armed and questioned whether people in the mob were really former President Trump’s supporters. One GOP lawmaker compared one image of the Capitol breach to a “normal tourist visit.”

Republican leaders’ claim that the Jan. 6 commission bill would not allow GOP staff hires

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“Remember, this commission, the appointment of the chair goes to Schumer and Pelosi and they appoint the staff. All the staff would be Democrats.”

— House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in an interview on “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News, May 18

Commission staff “would only be appointed by the Democrat chairman” and “Republicans would not have a say in that.”

— Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), in remarks, May 19

“We need to read the fine print. Even though the commission appears to be balanced, my staff tells me that in fact the majority — the chair, who will be determined by Pelosi and Schumer — control all the staff hiring.”

— Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in a news conference, May 18

The House passed a bill to establish an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, similar to the 9/11 Commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The vote on Wednesday was 252 to 175, with 35 Republicans joining all Democrats in support.

The Jan. 6 commission members would be split equally between Democrats and Republicans. But they would need a staff: investigators, lawyers, aides, the works. Continue reading.

This Week in Republican Insurrection Erasure

It will shock you how much it never happened.

In the week following Liz Cheney’s purge for the crime of speaking honestly about the former president’s unprecedented, if buffoonish, attempt to overthrow the election and stay in power against the will of the people, Republicans have taken out their neuralyzer and moved deliberately and unapologetically down the path of January 6 erasure.

  • A witness to the president’s support for a domestic terror assault on the Capitol refuses to testify.
  • A congressman tries to retcon his support for overturning the election on national TV.
  • A Republican campaign committee rewards the members who tried to “Stop The Steal.”
  • A senator who spearheaded the legislative coup is given massive platforms to promote his book about being silenced.

For the GOP, memory-holing the insurrection is the point.

It will shock you how much it never happened. Continue reading.

U.S. House OKs commission to probe Capitol attack, but McConnell objections may doom it

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WASHINGTON—The U.S. House voted Wednesday 252-175 to give the go-ahead to the formation of an independent, bipartisan commission that would investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, despite objections from Republican leaders that the scope of the commission was not wide enough and other investigations are ongoing.

Thirty-five Republicans joined with Democrats in backing the measure, which would set up a 10-member commission styled on the panel that investigated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with appointed members split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

All four of Minnesota’s Republican members voted against the measure: U.S. Reps. Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Jim Hagedorn and Pete Stauber. The four Democrats voted in favor: U.S. Reps. Angie Craig, Betty McCollum, Ilhan Omar and Dean Phillips. Continue reading.

Sen. Republicans Admit They Don’t Want Jan 6. Commission Because It Could Color Midterms

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Senate Republicans are candidly admitting their political calculus in opposing a January 6 commission: they don’t want it to encroach on the 2022 midterms, during which they worry it would be “weaponized politically.”

In other words, they don’t want voters reminded of the attack their leader and party provoked as they mull over their ballots. 

Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate minority whip, told reporters that he didn’t want the probe “weaponized politically and drug into next year.” Continue reading.

Capitol Police Officers Blast GOP Leaders For Opposing Jan. 6 Commission

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On Wednesday, anonymous members of the United States Capitol Police, in a letter addressed to members of Congress, said they felt “profound disappointment” in the decisions by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to oppose an investigation into the January 6 attack.

The U.S. Capitol Police said on its Twitter account that the letter was not an official statement from the organization.

CNN reported that it had confirmed with the Capitol Police officer who wrote the letter that it represents the views of 40-50 officers. Continue reading.

Republicans’ conflicting message: Embracing Trump election lie is key to prominence, just stop asking us about it

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The Republican Party’s contorted response to Donald Trump’s false claim that the election was stolen was on stark display as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy stood in the White House driveway.

McCarthy (R-Calif.) had helped engineer the ouster Wednesday of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as the No. 3 House Republican leader for saying former president Trump’s claim of a stolen election was a lie. Yet he insisted later that day, “I don’t think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election.”

In fact, the majority of Republicans — spurred on by Trump and party leaders who for months have been spreading falsehoods and sowing doubts — say in polls that they still question the legitimacy of the election. Trump has continued to spread his lie, writing on his blog on Tuesday that he lost in “an election rigged and stolen from us.” Continue reading.

‘It’s disgraceful’: An officer denounces the GOP’s Capitol riot denialism — and commission plans move forward

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On Friday, Democrat Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi announced an agreement for a bipartisan committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building — an agreement reached with Republican Rep. John Katko of New York State. Liberal Washington Post opinion writer Greg Sargentapplauds this “surprising bit of good news” in his column, but he also laments the fact that there are still many disingenuous Republicans who are determined to “obscure” the horrifying events of January 6.

“Predictably, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) immediately said he hadn’t agreed to the deal,” Sargent notes. “What’s still unclear is how many Republicans will support it. The bill will pass in the Democratic-controlled House, but it will also need GOP support in the Senate, since it could theoretically be filibustered.”

Sargent explains why Thomson and Katko’s proposal is a positive development, writing, “Perhaps the most important thing is that it focuses the scope of the commission on ‘the facts and causes’ related to the January 6 attack and to ‘the interference with the peaceful transfer of power.’ It will also look at the ‘influencing factors’ that ‘fomented’ this attack. Importantly, it describes January 6 as a ‘domestic terrorist attack’ waged against ‘American representative democracy.’ That counters the GOP whitewash effort by framing the mission around the need to explore the deep radicalization that led to an effort to overthrow U.S. democracy itself.” Continue reading.