Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill) dismissed a threat from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy issued to members of the Republican caucus who accepts an offer from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve on the select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection.
McCarthy reportedly told freshmen members of his caucus that he would strip any Republican member of their committee assignments if they join the probe to investigate the deadly Capitol riot.
“Who gives a shit?” Kinzinger told reporters when asked about McCarthy’s threat. “When you’ve got people that say crazy stuff and you’re not gonna make that threat, to make the threat the truth tellers, you’ve lost, you know any credibility and then so that’s all I’m gonna say on it.”
This comes one day after the House voted 222-190 to approve the committee to investigate what led to and happened during the Jan. 6 attack carried out by supporters of Donald Trump. Kinzinger and Rep. Liz Cheney were the only Republicans who voted to approve the measure.
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Cheney to serve on the committee along with Democratic Reps. Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Adam Schiff (Calif.), Pete Aguilar (Calif.), Stephanie Murphy (Fla.), Jamie Raskin (Md.) and Elaine Luria (Va.).
Cheney quickly issued a statement Thursday explaining her decision to accept Pelosi’s offer, saying that Congress is “obligated to conduct a full investigation” of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“What happened on January 6th can never happen again. Those who are responsible for the attack need to be held accountable and this select committee will fulfill that responsibility in a professional, expeditious, and non-partisan manner,” Cheney said. “Our oath to the Constitution, our commitment to the rule of law, and the preservation of the peaceful transfer of power must always be above partisan politics.”
McCarthy said Thursday that it’s “shocking” that Cheney would accept an appointment to the select committee and did not deny that Cheney could lose her committee assignments as a result, according to CNN.
“I’m not making any threats about committee assignments, but you know how Congress works,” McCarthy said when asked why Cheney would lose her committee assignments over the appointment. “You get elected by your district and you get your committees from your conference … I don’t know in history where someone would go get their committee assignments from the Speaker and expect to have them from the conference as well.”
