Rejected Republicans rip Pelosi after their rejection from Jan. 6 panel

Republican Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Jim Banks (Ind.) blasted Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) decision to reject their participation on a panel to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, arguing it proved she was involved in a partisan “charade,” in the words of Jordan.

“Speaker Pelosi just admitted the obvious, that the January 6th Select Committee is nothing more than a partisan political charade,” Jordan, a top ally of former President Trump, said in a statement.

“I’m a sitting member of Congress and served my country in Afghanistan and the Speaker knows how hard I will fight for my country. We said all along that this was a purely partisan exercise by the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi’s rejection of me and Jim Jordan shows once again she is the most partisan figure in America today,” Banks said in a statement.

“The American people deserve the truth. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi is afraid of the facts,” Banks added.

Banks and Jordan also took part in a press conference with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the three members Pelosi did not reject from the panel, where they all blasted the move as destructive to the institution of Congress.

McCarthy yanked the other GOP members from the panel in response to Pelosi’s move.

In a statement on Wednesday, Pelosi said she was rejecting Jordan and Banks out of respect for “the integrity” of the commission.

Democrats had raised complaints about both Republicans, arguing they would be unwilling to consider Trump’s role in the attack, an incident that led to his impeachment by the House. Republicans generally backed Trump, but there were GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach him in the House and convict him in the Senate.

One of those Republicans, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.), was appointed to the select committee on Jan. 6 by Pelosi. Cheney had previously been booted from GOP leadership over her criticisms of Trump. 

Senate Republicans had blocked the formation of an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack, a decision that angered Democrats.