In rationalizing her move to boot Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., and Jim Banks, R-Ind., off her Jan. 6 Capitol riot commission, Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made an illusory claim that contradicts her decision to permit extremist Democrats.
Pelosi said Jordan and Banks “had made statements and taken actions that I think would impact the integrity of the committee,” and that such statements and actions “just made it ridiculous to put them on such a committee seeking the truth.”
The first flaw with these remarks is that any “truth” will come to light from a 13-person commission comprised of those who are left-leaning enough to desire the riot to stay on replay in the American psyche forever. Furthermore, the left’s relationship with the “truth” includes referring to a small minority of Trump supporters as white supremacists worthy of a trip to the Gulag.
We know the commission is a political ploy. It’s a tool to frame all on the right as “insurrectionists” no different than, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley articulated, “Nazis.” There have already been several investigations, but Pelosi and the left want it to never end. And why would they?
Putting the tired charade’s merit aside, Pelosi’s rebuke of Jordan and Banks contradicts the resumes of those she handpicked to lead the Trump Derangement Syndrome initiative. If Democrat leadership is truly so appalled that Republicans would vote to contest the results of the 2020 presidential election, why did she appoint someone as chairman who has done the same?
If Pelosi was operating on the same “integrity” definition to vet commission members, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson would not have been appointed chairman. After all, it was Thompson who on Jan. 6, 2005, voted against the Ohio certification of George W. Bush’s win over John Kerry. Whereas Republicans in 2020 determined the election was fraudulent based on various incidents across the country of ignoring the election laws on the books, Thompson and others bucked the system for a baseless protest.
Here is the other notable aspect of Pelosi’s remarks. We know Jordan and Banks both opposed Democrat lawmakers who sought to impeach Trump twice.
So: What about Thompson and his colleagues who have opposed election certification to try and take down sitting presidents? Why does Pelosi allege a conflict of interest within the partisan commission regarding Jordan and Banks but none for those who have tirelessly worked to undermine the elections of Bush and Trump?
Pelosi’s chairman also joined Democrats in June 2008 to put forth impeachment articles against Bush. Bush was, in part, accused of “Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare” and “Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change.” You get the gist.
Thompson then tried much of the same in 2017 and 2018 with Trump. He voted to impeach Trump over not only the Russian collusion hoax but supported an effort to remove the president for his Charlottesville, Va., remarks and negative opinions on the National Football League and activist former quarterback Colin Kaepernick, among other things.
Given that Thompson sought to impeach Trump for his “fine people on both sides” Charlottesville comments that were purposefully taken out of context by corrupt media, it seems clear that the congressman is unfit to serve on Pelosi’s “truth” concerned commission.
Thompson’s case is not the only hypocrisy in the charade. Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., are two other leftist members of the commission that do not fit the “integrity” bill.
Take Schiff. While serving as the ranking minority on the House Intelligence Committee, the Democrat was one of the most media-hungry Russia-collusion hoaxers.
Schiff prompted a conspiracy theory that Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser, was a Russian asset who aimed to sway Trump. However, the FBI did not locate a shred of evidence to support these allegations against Page, which were funneled through a dossier subsidized by the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Democratic Party, and the FBI.
The Democrat claimed there was “ample evidence of collusion in plain sight” and gained social credit from his allies for going full-throttle into the Trump takedown fight. But Robert Mueller’s lengthy investigation that Schiff fought to get found no collusion.
Raskin, vice-chair of the House Administration Committee and a member of the Judiciary and Oversight Committees, has arguably exhibited even more Trump Derangement Syndrome than Schiff (which is impressive). On Jan. 6, 2017, Raskin challenged the certification of Trump’s victory over Clinton.
“I have an objection because 10 of the 29 electoral votes cast by Florida were cast by electors not lawfully certified because they violated Florida’s prohibition against dual officeholders,” he claimed. Despite his objections to electoral processes, he’s on Pelosi’s commission.
In addition to being a Russian hoaxer and sparking the first impeachment, Raskin joined Democrats in trying to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol riot after Trump had already left office, stating that Trump’s notion of the election results being a “Big Lie” led to violence.
If Raskin determined the former president caused the breach due to refuting the election results and lacks moral character, where would that place him in 2017? As a saint fighting for democracy? Please.
Thompson, Schiff, and Raskin have all done and said worse things than the alleged “offenses” Pelosi cites for kicking Banks and Jordan off her “integrity” and “truth” commission. We know the real reason Banks and Jordan are not permitted to take part.
The commission is a hyperbolic and performative measure to offer half the country as “insurrectionists.” It’s a dangerous game. Conservatives lose by pretending otherwise.