House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is considering adding anti-Trump Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to the January 6 Select Committee, according to multiple reports.
This could be part of Pelosi’s plan to make the committee bipartisan. On Thursday, Pelosi said, “We have a bipartisan quorum, we can proceed,” when asked by an infamous CNN reporter if she has concerns about Republicans being pulled from the committee after she refused to allow Republican Reps. Jim Jordan (OH) and Jim Banks (IN) sit on the committee.
A report from Politico said Pelosi “would consider appointing more Republicans to the Jan. 6 probe, less than 24 hours after she nixed two vocally pro-Trump GOP lawmakers for the select panel.”
Politico continued:
The current sole GOP member of the panel, Rep. Liz Cheney, separately made clear that she would support two well-known additions to the committee: Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Cheney’s partner in conservative opposition to Donald Trump, and former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), a possible pick as Cheney’s outside adviser in the investigation.
“We’ll see,” Pelosi told reporters when asked if she’d appoint more Republicans to serve alongside Cheney. “It’s not even bipartisan; it’s nonpartisan. It’s about seeking the truth and that’s what we owe the American people.”
Kinzinger discussed his desire to join the select panel with other lawmakers before Pelosi chose Cheney earlier this month, according to a person familiar with the conversations. He declined to comment Thursday when asked about his potential addition to the select panel, which is set to hold its first hearing next week with law enforcement responders during the siege of the Capitol by supporters of the former president.
Cheney told Politico that Kinzinger would be a “tremendous addition to the committee. I think ultimately it’s up to the speaker, but I would certainly support it.”
An ABC reporter said, according to a source, that “Pelosi is also being encouraged to offer GOP @RepKinzinger a seat on the 1/6 committee.” In an earlier tweet, the reporter also mentioned that Pelosi and the Democrats are also mulling over adding a former Republican Virginia Rep. Denver Riggleman.