As the House select committee to investigate the Capitol riot takes shape, Republicans are preparing a strategy that mostly takes aim at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), reports CNN.
According to GOP sources, Republicans will try to "make the case [Pelosi] should have done more to secure the Capitol" and "attempt to shift the blame away from [former President Donald Trump] and onto the speaker," writes CNN.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has yet to name his optional selections for the committee's five GOP slots, and Pelosi has the power to veto anyone he chooses, reports CNN. Notably, the speaker tapped Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as one of her eight selections for the committee.
Pelosi veto aside, McCarthy may have a tough time nominating the right Republicans to execute the GOP's blame-shifting strategy. Almost all of the minority leader's potential picks, as reported by Punchbowl News, voted against certifying Biden's 2020 election win. But as The Washington Post's Greg Sargent notes, "There is no way to appoint these Republicans without highlighting the GOP's own culpability in creating the conditions leading to [Jan. 6's] horrors." For example, CNN reports, panel picks like Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) "could also be a valuable witness for Democrats trying to learn more about Trump's actions." But simultaneously, McCarthy would also be ill-advised to pick Republicans who might treat the proceedings seriously, says Sargent.
He may, in fact, be backed "into a corner." Read more at The Washington Post.