Pelosi signals Kinzinger’s likely appointment to Jan. 6 panel

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday signaled that she plans to appoint GOP Rep Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) to the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, saying “you could say that’s the direction I would be going.”

Pelosi told ABC’s “This Week” that she would not be making an announcement Sunday and that she needed to speak with Kinzinger, who has been outspoken in his criticism of former President Donald Trump.

But she also said “that would be my plan” when she was asked by host George Stephanopoulos about appointing more Republicans to the panel. 

“Perhaps after I speak to Adam Kinzinger,” Pelosi said.

“I’m not about to announce it right this minute, but you could say that that is the direction that I would be going on,” Pelosi continued.

She said Kinzinger and other Republicans have “expressed an interest” to sit on the select committee.

Pelosi has already appointed Rep. Liz Cheney (R-W.) to the panel. 

Both Cheney and Kinzinger voted to impeach Trump for his role in inciting a mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 to stop the counting of Electoral College votes.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells @GStephanopoulos that she plans to name more Republicans to the Jan. 6 select committee after vetoing two of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s recommendations: “You could say that’s the direction I would be going.” https://t.co/3NlObOqjFv pic.twitter.com/4hJwViTMxK

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 25, 2021

Reports last week said Pelosi was considering nominating Kinzinger to join the panel.

Drama relating to the Jan. 6 investigation unfolded last week after Pelosi rejected two of the Republican nominees to sit on the committee: Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Jim Banks (Ill.).

Pelosi defended her decision on Sunday, telling Stephanopoulos that Jordan and Banks “are people who would jeopardize the integrity of the investigation, and there’s no way I would tolerate their antics.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) responded to the move by yanking all five of his nominees from the committee.