On July 21, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two Republicans tapped by House GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attempted coup.
The two Congressional members Pelosi rejected were Jim Banks (R-Indiana) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Both are outspoken allies of former President Donald Trump.
On January 6, Trump’s supporters attacked the Capitol. Their mission: Stop the certification of Joe Biden’s winning of the 2020 Presidential election—to maintain Trump in office.
The “Jolly Roger” meets Donald Trump
In the hours after the attack, Banks and Jordan voted to overturn the election results.
“With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,” Pelosi said in a statement.
McCarthy’s response: “Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts.”
Kevin McCarthy
Republicans had already signaled their unwillingness to investigate the unprecedented attack on democracy by their most fanatical followers.
On May 28, Senate Republicans blocked creation of a bipartisan panel to investigate the attack on the Capitol. For them, two goals were paramount:
- Displaying continuing party loyalty to former President Donald Trump; and
- Shifting the political focus away from the violent—and treasonous—action by his GOP supporters.
The Senate vote came a day after emotional appeals for the commission from police who fought the mob, the family of an officer who died and Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
The vote was 54-35—six short of the 60 needed—to take up a House-passed bill that would have formed an independent 10-member commission evenly split between the two parties.
Pelosi accepted McCarthy’s three other picks:
- Rodney Davis (R-Illinois),
- Kelly Armstrong (R-North Dakota) and
- Troy Nehls (R-Texas).
But McCarthy said that all five or none would participate.
Even after the attempted coup, Nehls voted to overturn Biden’s victory. Armstrong and Davis voted to certify the election.
In a statement after McCarthy tapped him for the panel, Banks had attacked Pelosi: “Make no mistake, Nancy Pelosi created this committee solely to malign conservatives and to justify the Left’s authoritarian agenda.”
Banks’ statement enraged Democrats—as did his two recent visits with Trump. One of these occurred at the U.S.-Mexico border and the other at Trump’s New Jersey golf course.
Jordan has long defended Trump’s litany of demonstrated lies and documented criminality.
Appearing on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” on April 16, 2018, Jordan accused Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, of being a liar. He accused the Washington Post of lying. He asked Cooper if he had ever lied.
But, pressed by Cooper on whether he had ever heard Trump lie, Jordan replied: “I have not. I don’t know of it. Nothing comes to mind.”
Rep. Jim Jordan
According to the Washington Post, Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims during his four years as President.
Jordan pushed to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s subversion of the 2016 Presidential election.
Jordan, a member of the House’s Right-wing Freedom Caucus, fanatically supported Trump, whose 2016 campaign received documented support from Russian Intelligence agents.
Jordan opposed any investigation into this unholy alliance.
Meanwhile, Jordan is being haunted by a scandal of his own.
Jordan served as an assistant coach at Ohio State University (OSU) from 1987 to 1995. Several former OSU wrestlers claim Jordan ignored sexual abuse of students by the team’s doctor.
In April, 2018, OSU announced it was investigating charges that Richard Strauss had abused team wrestlers while he served as the team doctor from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s. Strauss died in 2005.
Jordan claims he didn’t know about the abuse.
Yet several former wrestlers assert that they told Jordan about the abuse or remember Jordan being a part of conversations about the abuse.
“I considered Jim Jordan a friend,” Mike DiSabato, a former wrestler, told NBC. It was DiSabato’s allegations against Strauss that led OSU to open the investigation. “But at the end of the day, he is absolutely lying if he says he doesn’t know what was going on.”
In an email to Ohio State’s legal counsel, DiSabato wrote: “Strauss sexually assaulted male athletes in at least fifteen varsity sports during his employment at OSU from 1978 through 1998.”
“There’s no way unless he’s got dementia or something that he’s got no recollection of what was going on at Ohio State,” former Ultimate Fighting Championship world champion Mark Coleman told the Wall Street Journal. “I have nothing but respect for this man, I love this man, but he knew as far as I’m concerned.”
Which immediately raises the question: How can you respect and love a man who knew that students were being sexually abused—and did nothing to stop it?
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REPUBLICANS: LOOKING FOR “THE REAL TRAITORS”: PART ONE (OF TWO)
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on July 26, 2021 at 12:05 amOn July 21, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two Republicans tapped by House GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attempted coup.
The two Congressional members Pelosi rejected were Jim Banks (R-Indiana) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Both are outspoken allies of former President Donald Trump.
On January 6, Trump’s supporters attacked the Capitol. Their mission: Stop the certification of Joe Biden’s winning of the 2020 Presidential election—to maintain Trump in office.
The “Jolly Roger” meets Donald Trump
In the hours after the attack, Banks and Jordan voted to overturn the election results.
“With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,” Pelosi said in a statement.
McCarthy’s response: “Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts.”
Kevin McCarthy
Republicans had already signaled their unwillingness to investigate the unprecedented attack on democracy by their most fanatical followers.
On May 28, Senate Republicans blocked creation of a bipartisan panel to investigate the attack on the Capitol. For them, two goals were paramount:
The Senate vote came a day after emotional appeals for the commission from police who fought the mob, the family of an officer who died and Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
The vote was 54-35—six short of the 60 needed—to take up a House-passed bill that would have formed an independent 10-member commission evenly split between the two parties.
Pelosi accepted McCarthy’s three other picks:
But McCarthy said that all five or none would participate.
Even after the attempted coup, Nehls voted to overturn Biden’s victory. Armstrong and Davis voted to certify the election.
In a statement after McCarthy tapped him for the panel, Banks had attacked Pelosi: “Make no mistake, Nancy Pelosi created this committee solely to malign conservatives and to justify the Left’s authoritarian agenda.”
Banks’ statement enraged Democrats—as did his two recent visits with Trump. One of these occurred at the U.S.-Mexico border and the other at Trump’s New Jersey golf course.
Jordan has long defended Trump’s litany of demonstrated lies and documented criminality.
Appearing on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” on April 16, 2018, Jordan accused Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, of being a liar. He accused the Washington Post of lying. He asked Cooper if he had ever lied.
But, pressed by Cooper on whether he had ever heard Trump lie, Jordan replied: “I have not. I don’t know of it. Nothing comes to mind.”
Rep. Jim Jordan
According to the Washington Post, Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims during his four years as President.
Jordan pushed to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s subversion of the 2016 Presidential election.
Jordan, a member of the House’s Right-wing Freedom Caucus, fanatically supported Trump, whose 2016 campaign received documented support from Russian Intelligence agents.
Jordan opposed any investigation into this unholy alliance.
Meanwhile, Jordan is being haunted by a scandal of his own.
Jordan served as an assistant coach at Ohio State University (OSU) from 1987 to 1995. Several former OSU wrestlers claim Jordan ignored sexual abuse of students by the team’s doctor.
In April, 2018, OSU announced it was investigating charges that Richard Strauss had abused team wrestlers while he served as the team doctor from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s. Strauss died in 2005.
Jordan claims he didn’t know about the abuse.
Yet several former wrestlers assert that they told Jordan about the abuse or remember Jordan being a part of conversations about the abuse.
“I considered Jim Jordan a friend,” Mike DiSabato, a former wrestler, told NBC. It was DiSabato’s allegations against Strauss that led OSU to open the investigation. “But at the end of the day, he is absolutely lying if he says he doesn’t know what was going on.”
In an email to Ohio State’s legal counsel, DiSabato wrote: “Strauss sexually assaulted male athletes in at least fifteen varsity sports during his employment at OSU from 1978 through 1998.”
“There’s no way unless he’s got dementia or something that he’s got no recollection of what was going on at Ohio State,” former Ultimate Fighting Championship world champion Mark Coleman told the Wall Street Journal. “I have nothing but respect for this man, I love this man, but he knew as far as I’m concerned.”
Which immediately raises the question: How can you respect and love a man who knew that students were being sexually abused—and did nothing to stop it?
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