On July 1, 2021, Congress established the “Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi was to name 13 House Members to the panel, five of whom would be appointed by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

In an unprecedented move, Speaker Pelosi REFUSED to seat Republican-appointed members including Rep. Jim Banks, a highly respected Naval officer, as well as Rep. Jim Jordan, who serves as the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, stating: “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 [Jim] Banks and [Jim] Jordan to the Select Committee. The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision.”  – Nancy Pelosi

Speaker Pelosi’s decision is indeed unprecedented. As Minority Leader in 2014, Pelosi was allowed to choose her members for the House Select Committee investigating the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. It is laughable to believe that Pelosi’s objections to Rep. Banks and Rep. Jordan was due to their “partisanship” or because they “questioned the outcome of the election.”

The obvious reason Speaker Pelosi refused to have Republicans such as Rep. Jim Banks on the Select Committee is because they said that any investigation by Congress should focus on why the Capitol was so unprotected on January 6th, which is certainly relevant and likely would have reflected poorly on Speaker Pelosi given that, as Speaker, it was her duty to see that the Capitol was protected.

By the way, questioning the outcome of an election is not a crime, it is in fact first amendment protected free speech. Just ask former Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has said on numerous occasions that “you can have the election stolen from you.” Or Stacey Abrams, who has still yet to concede the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election. Even Nancy Pelosi’s own picks for the Select Committee have questioned election outcomes or challenged the certification of the electoral college, such as Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson who in 2017 boycotted Donald Trump’s inauguration and called him an “illegitimate President”, or Rep. Adam Schiff, who spent two years repeatedly lying about evidence of collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia, or Rep. Jamie Raskin, who challenged the certification of the Electoral College on the House Floor on January 6, 2017. Or Select Committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who co-authored a report advising AGAINST the certification of the Ohio electoral college – a move which was then backed by Nancy Pelosi in a speech on the House Floor in December 2004…

Democrats have, on NUMEROUS occasions, challenged the certification of the electoral college including…

JANUARY 6, 2001: 10 Congressional Black Caucus Members attempted to overturn the results of the 2000 presidential election by objecting to Florida’s electoral votes. Watch the resurfaced video footage of Democrats objecting to the Elector College Certification HERE.

JANUARY 6, 2005: 32 Democrats in Congress attempted overturn the results of the 2004 presidential election by objecting to the certification of Ohio’s electoral votes. Select Committee Member Rep. Zoe Lofgren was intricately involved in the effort to advise AGAINST the certification of the Ohio Electoral College (sited multiple times in a Congressional Report HERE). Nancy Pelosi gave an impassioned speech on the House Floor in support of her Democrat colleagues who were attempting to overturn George W. Bush’s election victory.

JANUARY 6, 2017: Select Committee Member Rep. Jamie Raskin objected to the certification of the Electoral College of President Trump’s 2016 election victory with a fiery speech on the House Floor on January 6, 2017 that Joe Biden himself had to dismiss as nonsensical. The January 6 Select Committee’s own Chairman, Bennie Thompson, BOYCOTTED President Trump’s 2017 Inauguration calling him an “Illegitimate President”.