House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has formally appointed Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a critic of former US President Donald Trump, to serve on the select committee to investigate the events that transpired at US Capitol on 6 January.
According to The Washington Times, Pelosi has blocked two Trump’s "allies," Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, from joining the committee, which already counts Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, an opponent of Trump, among its ranks.
"Republicans will say what they will say, our select committee will seek the truth, it’s our patriotic duty to do so, and we do not come into our work worried about what the other side who has been afraid [will do]," Pelosi told ABC. "Maybe the Republicans can’t handle the truth but we have a responsibility to seek it, to find it, and in a way that maintains the confidence of the American people."
She also branded the two Republicans that she didn't appoint as "people who would jeopardise the integrity of the investigation" and insisted that she would not tolerate “their antics” while the committee pursues "the truth."
"We will find the truth, that truth will have the confidence of the American people because it will be done patriotically and not in a partisan way," Pelosi declared.
Meanwhile, Banks argued that Pelosi is only interested in a "narrative" as opposed to a fair probe.
"We were prepared to ask questions that no one else has asked and demand answers as to why the Capitol was vulnerable to an attack on January 6th," he said on Fox News Sunday. "Why was there a systemic breakdown of security at the Capitol on January 6th? If we’re going to investigate January 6th, why not ask those questions?"