Republican leader criticizes his party for reprimanding lawmakers investigating Capitol assault

The leader of the Republicans in the Senate, Mitch McConnellcriticized the Republican National Committee for reprimanding two lawmakers from his party who are investigating the storming the capitol of January 6, 2021, and said that it is not the task of the party to monitor the opinions of parliamentarians.

Former President Donald Trump has downplayed last year’s attack by his supporters – the worst attack on Capitol Hill in two centuries – and the CNR last week approved the censure of Republican federal representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger during the party winter meeting.

Both Republicans are part of a Democratic-led House committee that is thoroughly investigating the attack and has subpoenaed many close associates of the former president.

The CNR resolution censuring Cheney and Kinzinger noted that the House panel was leading a “persecution of ordinary citizens who engage in legitimate political speech,” words that provoked outrage from Democrats and strong rejection from several senators from the Republican Party.

Rioters who entered the Capitol through windows and doors violently beat up police officers and disrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.

“It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after legitimately certified elections from one administration to the next,” McConnell said Tuesday.

He added that he trusts CNR President Ronna McDaniel, but “the question is whether or not the CNR should single out members of our party who may have different views than the majority. That is not the job of the CNR.”

The dispute is the latest push-and-pull within the party on issues that McConnell and others see as politically profitable and would prefer to address in an election year — inflation, for example — as opposed to Trump’s speech about the attack on Capitol Hill and election lies. .

Those who stormed the Capitol were repeating Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud and a stolen victory, even after election officials and courts across the country repeatedly dismissed those claims. McConnell and his closest allies have been saying for months that they want to look to November 2022, when they have a chance to win back the Senate, and not go back to January 2021.

Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Mitt Romney contacted McDaniel about censorship.

McDaniel’s uncle Romney told reporters that “there could not be a more inappropriate message” from the party.

“Anything my party does that is stupid is not going to help us,” he said.