GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger Says He’ll Serve On Jan. 6 House Committee
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Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger has confirmed he will serve on the select panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol shortly after receiving an invite from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
“Let me be clear, I’m a Republican dedicated to conservative values, but I swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution ― and while this is not the position I expected to be in or sought out, when duty calls, I will always answer,” the Illinois congressman said in a statement posted to Twitter on Sunday. “I will work diligently to ensure we get to the truth and hold those responsible for the attack fully accountable.”
Today, I was asked to serve on the bipartisan January 6th Select Committee and I humbly accepted. When duty calls, I will always answer. https://t.co/MszEBc0V7Ipic.twitter.com/flIdSfYzZV
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) July 25, 2021
Kinzinger’s acceptance came just hours after Pelosi publicly shared her plans to ask him to join what is expected to be a 13-member committee.
“That would be my plan,” she said in an interview Sunday with ABC News’ “This Week.” “He and other Republicans have expressed an interest to serve on this select committee.”
Kinzinger will join fellow Republican Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), who is also an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump.
Pelosi said she wanted to appoint three of the five Republicans that Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) put forward to join the committee, but he withdrew all five of them after she declined to appoint two of them.
Q: Will you be appointing more Republicans to the (1/6) committee, like Cong. Adam Kinzinger?
PELOSI: That would be my plan.
Q: So when will that be announced?
PELOSI: Perhaps after I speak to Adam Kinzinger.pic.twitter.com/2inobG8mx0— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 25, 2021
“The two that I would not appoint are people who would jeopardize the integrity of the investigation and there’s no way I would tolerate their antics as we seek the truth,” she said of Republican Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio.
McCarthy said on Wednesday that because of Pelosi’s decision, Republicans will boycott the select committee investigation and instead conduct their own.
He again dismissed the investigation on Sunday following news of Kinzinger’s appointment, saying the committee “will not yield a serious investigation.”
“The Speaker has structured this select committee to satisfy her political objectives,” he said in a statement. “The U.S. Capitol and the men and women who protect it suffered a massive leadership failure. We must make sure that never happens again and that is what Republicans will be focused on.”
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
