https://youtu.be/dxhh6CRa1f0

As the special bipartisan House committee investigating the January 6th domestic terrorist attack opened its first session, House Republican leaders held a dog-and-pony show on the Capitol steps–the same place thousands of Donald Trump supporters stormed to overturn the Constitution–to claim that the coup attempt was Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s fault. 

In a transparent attempt to demean the testimony of four police officers during today’s public session, Republican House Conference Chair Elise Stefanik claimed that it was only after far-right Trump apologists in the House started pointing the finger at Pelosi did the Speaker decide to exclude GOP members appointed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.  Refusing to call it a coup attempt, a domestic terrorist attack or a riot, Stefanik characterized it as “a tragedy.”

“It is a fact that the US Capitol Police had raised concerns, and rather than providing them with the support and resources that they need and that they deserved, she prioritized her partisan political optics over their safety,” Stefanik claimed.  “The American people deserve to know the truth that Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility as Speaker of the House for the tragedy that occurred on January 6th.  And it was only after Republicans started asking these important questions that she refused to seat them.”