House GOP 'Insurrection Protection Committee is a sham,' says Pressley -
By: Agence France-Presse (Raw Story - Celebrating Years of Independent Journalism)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Rep. Ayanna Pressley- Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS
Progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday blasted Republicans for using their narrow majority to establish a panel headed by a far-right congressman to "expose the abuses committed by the unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucracy."
In a 221-211 vote along party lines, the GOP approved a resolution creating a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, under the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
"The goal is not justice, but to delegitimize credible investigations into people who attempted to overthrow our government."
Jordan—who infamously defied a congressional subpoena to testify about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump—took aim at the U.S. Homeland Security and Justice departments as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and key House Democrats in a Tuesday floor speech advocating for the subcommittee.
"Mr. Jordan, who was deeply involved in Mr. Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has for months been investigating what he says is a bias in federal law enforcement against conservatives," The New York Timesreported. "Now that Republicans have the majority, he plans to use his gavel and his subpoena power to escalate and expand that inquiry, including searching for evidence that federal workers have become politicized and demanding documents about ongoing criminal investigations."
While Republicans in Congress have compared their now-official panel to the historic Church Committee—which, in the 1970s, "labored for 16 months to produce a 5,000-page report that is a canonical history of the secret government," as journalist Chris Hayes wrote for The Nation in 2009—progressives, including Hayes last week, have challenged that comparison.
"In 1975, the Senate created a bipartisan Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities," Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said after the vote. "Dubbed the Church Committee, the panel uncovered the surveillance and abuses against civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as illegal programs to assassinate foreign leaders. Minnesota legend Walter Mondale served on the committee and his questions helped uncover abuses of power."
Explaining her "no" vote, Omar continued:
I had high hopes that this would be a Church-style committee, where we could investigate surveillance of American citizens, violations of civil liberties, and the intelligence community's overseas abuses of power.
It is clear that this committee is going to be one of personal grievances and defending insurrectionists, led by members who are themselves being investigated for their role in the January 6th insurrection and who have openly defied accountability by not complying with congressional subpoenas. The goal is not justice, but to delegitimize credible investigations into people who attempted to overthrow our government.
Additionally, agency oversight belongs in the House Committee on Oversight and Reform or on an independent committee. The fact that this is being formed under the Judiciary Committee suggests that the goal isn't accountability but rather to obstruct justice and undercut legal investigations they don't agree with.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), a fellow "Squad" member, was similarly critical on Tuesday.
"The federal government has already been weaponized by Republicans against Black, brown, and other marginalized groups," she said. "So unless they're investigating themselves, this Insurrection Protection Committee is a sham."
Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) called the committee "a fascist power grab to evade accountability" for the January 6 attack.
Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) tied the creation of the new panel to the 15 votes and backroom deals it took last week for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to get far-right members of his party to stop blocking his path to the leadership position.
"House Republicans just created a committee with unprecedented power to review criminal investigations and access high-level intelligence for political purposes," Pocan said. "This is what Speaker McCarthy was willing to compromise to be speaker. It's wild."
There were also critics beyond Congress—including Noah Bookbinder, president of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
"This new House subcommittee, specifically set up to investigate ongoing investigations by the Justice Department and FBI into Donald Trump and others, is dangerous and threatens accountability and the rule of law," he said. "We can't accept this as normal."
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Every one of the "20" freedom caucus members who revolted against McCarthy are insurrectionist friendly election deniers.
Putting any of them in charge of investigations of the government they tried to destroy is a travesty.
Repeat after me:
Election denier, election denier, election denier!
Keep saying it to ingrain it in their feeble minds!
lol
Cory Bush, Alynna Presley and Ilhan Ohmer.
Just the group I look to for sober, non partisan analysis.
Trump talked to Jim Jordan numerous times on Jan 6th, and since they were allies we can presume they were not discussing how to put down the riot and certify the electoral votes as soon as possible.
Jordan is complicit in Jan 6th, to an as yet unknown degree, and having him be in charge of an investigation of the jan 6 committee is absurd.
Not any more absurd than the J6 committee itself was. They should have renamed it the "Get Trump At All Costs" committee. They never were doing the job of analysis of the day to prevent it from happening again. And you damned well know it.
Donald Trump tried to steal the election and overthrow our government. Its not my problem if you dont know the facts.
Snowball's chance in hell of that happening and you damned well know that too.
As I have told you probably ten times now, someone is not innocent of bank robbery just because they didnt get away with the money.
Trump is not innocent of a coup just because he couldnt succeed.
It, IF planned (and it wasn't as evidenced by the dumbasses' feeble attempt), was doomed from the start. YOu give him WAAAAAY too much credit.
So lets see your "facts". Feel free to provide the links.
So lets see the proof of guilt? Indictment, trial, conviction...or is this all based out of TDS?
As usual, you lack facts. Supposedly this whole insurrection bullshit was planned well in advance. Also, supposedly, law enforcement, including the FBI and many Democrats were aware of this dastardly plot weeks in advance. And yet, they did nothing to prepare for it, and were, supposedly, caught off guard.
What really happened was a demonstration that was pretty much spontaneous and the result of acts by a handful of hard right activists. Your continued claim of an overthrow of the government are simply stupid and absurd. Keep spouting these lies, but you're not dealing with facts or changing minds.
His definition of guilt is based solely on the findings of the kangaroo court of public opinion. He knows full well that if it ever went to a proper court, Trump, according to our criminal justice system, is still presumed innocent until proven guilty and he and others here cannot stand that.
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Donald Trump has demonstrated tremendous consciousness of guilt. He has NEVER explained what he was doing during the day of Jan 6 after the riot started. Numerous eyewitnesses said Trump was watching tv and never made a call to LE for help at the Capitol.
Why wouldnt the president of the United States not lift a finger to stop a riot at the nations capitol?
Because he wanted it to succeed in stopping the vote count.
Trump has never addressed this issue. Wouldnt an "innocent" patriot want to set the record straight? I cant account for how dumb some trump supporters are. Thats their problem. I'm not that dumb.
I'm not a Trump supporter. Just somebody who believes in the rule of law and our justice system. Apparently, you do not.
Come on, they've been right on so much. /s
Sounds like the Jan 6 committee. Oh, that's right. It's only an Un-American Activities Committee and a waste of taxpayer money when the Democrats are being looked at. Let me guess, it's a threat to democracy too.
Cry us a river.
Democrats weaponized the IRS, DOJ, and FBI into tools of the Democrat Party.
Now they are upset that it is being brought out into the light.
Tell us again how "If they have nothing to hide, then they have nothing to worry about". That line was repeatedly used by leftists during the last 6 plus years.
Nadler has no leg to stand on, none of the Democrats do, when talking about wasting tax payer money on useless investigations. Nadler is one of the biggest conspiracy theorists the Democrats have; and they have a lot to choose from.
The louder the left screams about this the more guilty they look.