22 July 2021
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signaled Thursday she’s considering adding more Republican members to the select committee to investigate the Jan 6. Capitol attack.
Driving the news: Asked during a news conference whether she would appoint Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) to the committee, Pelosi replied, “We’ll see.”
Why it matters: Republicans who were once on board with investigating the events of Jan. 6 are wary of the credibility of the committee after the politics of the last 24 hours have played out.
- "I’m incredibly worried that the ultimate end product will not be seen as objective," said Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), who was one of 10 Republicans who voted earlier this year to impeach President Trump.
- When asked whether he would be willing to serve on the select committee if asked, Meijer said, “I don’t know.”
- He previously voted in favor of establishing a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection.
Background: Democrats sought to avoid the investigation turning into a spectacle. But during the past 24 hours, the bipartisan commission crumbled after Pelosi rejected two picks by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to serve on the commission, leading McCarthy to revoke all his picks.
What they’re saying: "[Speaker Pelosi] surprised me yesterday," Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.), another of the 10 Republicans who voted for impeachment, and who voted in favor of the bipartisan commission, told Axios.
- The congressman said that while he believes Pelosi is a “good tactician,” her decision to reject Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) was a "tactical failure."
- While Rice told Axios it’s a "shame" the committee has fractured because he would have liked an "in-depth review," the congressman said he does not have any interest in serving on the select committee.
Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler (R-Wash.) echoed the sentiments Thursday, calling once again for a commission made up of former members.
- "We're not going to trust a bunch of politicians who are trying to get reelected or elected into leadership positions."
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who has broken with his party at times and faced criticized from former President Trump, said he wouldn’t serve on the select committee because he believes it’ll become a spectacle.
- "I mean at this point the committee is not, I think, worthy of support or recognition from my perspective. Pelosi has made very clear that this is a political politicized effort," he said.
- Roy added that he voted against the initial bipartisan commission because he worried it would devolve into political theater.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.