House Republican: ‘Absolutely bogus’ for GOP to downplay Jan. 6

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) on Sunday said his Republican colleagues downplaying the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building is “absolutely bogus.”

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Dana Bash asked Upton to respond to a series statements made by members of his party which called the pro-Trump mob that stormed the building “peaceful patriots,” denied that the attack was an insurrection, and said video of the incident looked like a “normal tourist video.”

“Bogus. It’s absolutely bogus. It’s absolutely bogus, you know, I was there I watched a number of the folks walk down to the White House and then back. I’ve got a balcony on my office. So I saw them go down. I heard the noise. The flashbangs smelled, some of the gases, it moved my way,” Upton added.

“It’s absolutely bogus,” GOP Rep. Fred Upton says about Republican lawmakers downplaying the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol Hill. “I don’t know what their motivation is. But I know that … it was terribly frightening.” #CNNSOTUhttps://t.co/QHiDz98JwE pic.twitter.com/Zr5Sa2IdZp

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) May 16, 2021

Upton said he does not know why his colleagues are downplaying the attack, calling the events of Jan. 6 “terribly frightening.”

“I don’t know what their motivation is, but I know that as I talked to some colleagues, even again this week who were in the chamber, it was terribly frightening,” he said.

Upton said the events that day were “chilling,” adding that a commission to look into what happened that day is “important.”

“It was chilling, what happened. Absolutely chilling, and that’s why I think that it’s important that we move forward with this bipartisan commission, get the facts out, try to assure the American public this is what happened and and let the facts lead us to the conclusion.”

The top Democrat and Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee reached an agreement on Friday for legislation to establish a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said legislation to create the commission is set to reach the floor as soon as this week.