GOP House leader names 5 Republicans to Jan. 6 panel

Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy selected five Republicans to join the House panel that will investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Thirteen members will make up the panel, created last month after the Senate blocked creation of a bipartisan commission. McCarthy’s picks, announced Monday, are ranking member Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, plus Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong and Texas Rep. Troy Nehls.

All five voted against impeaching President Donald Trump in January.

Banks said in a statement that he accepted the appointment “because we need leaders who will force the Democrats and the media to answer questions so far ignored. Among them, why was the Capitol unprepared and vulnerable to attack on Jan. 6?”

He added, as other Republicans have, that the committee also should be investigating the racial justice protests of last summer.

Jordan told Newsmax late Monday: “We know what this is. This is impeachment Round 3,” adding that he joined the committee to “focus on the truth and to focus on the facts.”

Last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said of the committee: “It will find the truth, which clearly the Republicans fear.”

The House approved the committee on a 222-190 vote. Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois were the only two Republicans to back creation of the committee.

The committee’s Democratic chairman will be authorized to issue subpoenas, a change from the commission proposal, which would have required support from at least one member appointed by Republicans.

The select committee doesn’t have a deadline to finish its work.