Adding Kinzinger to Select Committee Leaves McCarthy Howling at the Moon - Horowitz

Adding Kinzinger to Select Committee Leaves McCarthy Howling at the Moon - Horowitz

When the House Select Committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection kicks off today with the testimony of 4 of the police officers who bravely defended the Capitol, the television cameras will focus heavily on the two Republican members of the committee, Adam Kinzinger (IL) and Liz Cheney (WY). Defying threats of retaliation from their party’s leadership. they courageously accepted Speaker Pelosi’s invitation to join this deep exploration of the actions leading up to January 6, the unfolding and disturbing events of the day itself, and what can be done to make sure it never happens again.  

For all, but hard-core Trump supporters, whose views are unlikely to change no matter what new information surfaces, Kinzinger and Cheney’s prominent participation in hearings and deliberations that will receive saturation news coverage makes Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (CA) increasingly strident arguments that the committee is engaged in a partisan witch hunt ring hollow.

This is another self-inflicted wound for the house minority leader as his craven willingness to appease Donald Trump once again has overridden his political judgment, let alone what would be best for the nation.  After Speaker Pelosi rejected 2 of McCarthy’s 5 selections for the committee-- the deliberately provocative choices of Jim Jordan (OH) and Jim Banks (IN), reflexive bomb-throwing Trump supporters, whose sole mission would be to disrupt the proceedings-- McCarthy decided to boycott the committee, withdrawing his 3 other selections.

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This gave Pelosi the opportunity to counter by adding Adam Kinzinger to the select committee, doing so on Sunday. Emphasizing Kinzinger’s military service, the speaker said, “I am announcing the appointment of Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran and Lieutenant Colonel in the Air National Guard, to serve on the Select Committee.  He brings great patriotism to the Committee’s mission: to find the facts and protect our Democracy,”

An independent-thinking conservative and Cheney ally, Representative Kinzinger has been a consistent critic of President Trump’s efforts to falsely claim that he won the election—efforts that continue to this day-- his all-out attempts to cling to power at any cost, and any try to downplay or minimize January 6.   “Self-governance requires accountability and responsibility, said Kinzinger in accepting Pelosi’s invitation. “My faith requires the same of me, truth is necessary for order, and that’s what I will do. 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.”

 “This moment requires a serious, clear-eyed, non-partisan approach. We are duty-bound to conduct a full investigation on the worst attack on the Capitol since 1814 and to make sure it can never happen again,” added Kinzinger.”

Kevin McCarthy first rejected the opportunity to have a 9/11 style commission with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats and with the rules agreed to by his designated negotiator, Representative John Katko (NY). He has now dug an even bigger political hole for himself by rejecting his next best option: the opportunity to keep 3 of his designees on the committee and replace the 2 that were turned away with members that would still be his allies; they would just not be as openly and shamelessly dedicated to blocking any effort to get to the truth.

He has left himself with the worst of all possible political worlds. Through his own ill-advised decisions, the minority leader helped create a select committee whose proceedings he has no ability to influence; nor given Cheney and Kinzinger’s active and constructive presence will he succeed in getting independent voters or anyone else who is still persuadable to embrace his claim that it is all just a partisan exercise.

After all, McCarthy's loud assertions of partisanship are already being parried effectively by pushback from his fellow Republicans, Cheney and Kinzinger. After being asked about these charges, Liz Cheney, for example, told reporters Thursday as reported by CNBC, “I think the committee is going to do a very thorough and fair and nonpartisan job at getting to the truth.”

This all leaves Kevin McCarthy howling at the moon.

 

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits, businesses, and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.