Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) argues that Democrats have an “incentive” to focus on the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol instead of President Joe Biden’s policies ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked the Pennsylvania senator why “so few” Republicans “seem to want to take this seriously and get to the bottom of what happened on Jan. 6.”
Toomey responded by arguing that his colleagues “do want to get to the bottom” of the riot, and noted that he supported a bipartisan commission to investigate the violence, which would have been “genuinely and truly bipartisan both in its composition of members and in staff.”
“This exercise in the House was not meant to be that,” he claimed.
He continued, “We have a lot of investigations underway now. There are Senate committees that have completed some, there are others still in progress, we have many criminal investigations. I would favor a truly bipartisan commission, but I think there, we should be candid about the fact that it is politically to the advantage of Democrats to try to keep this issue in the forefront.”
Toomey also claimed that Democrat strategist James Carville has “urged the Democrats, don’t let the election be about Joe Biden and his policies in 2022, make that election about Jan. 6 then Donald Trump.”
“And so it’s very clear that Democrats have an incentive to try to drive a political message here, and a purely partisan commission in the House [is] probably going to do that,” he added.
Finally, he argued the committee is a “constant reminder about a terrible episode in our history with which Donald Trump was at the heart of rather than looking at the policies of the current president.”
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GOP Sen. Pat Toomey says investigating Jan. 6 "is politically to the advantage of Democrats, to try to keep this issue in the forefront" and argues "it is a constant reminder about a terrible episode in our history … rather than looking at the policies of the current President" pic.twitter.com/jlT8qk6V4t
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 25, 2021
Toomey’s comments come after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) withdrew his picks to be named to a select committee to investigate Jan. 6.
The move followed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) decision to reject two of his picks citing concerns about “the impact their appointments may have on the integrity of the investigation.”
“With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,” she said in a statement.
Pelosi has named Republican Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) to the committee.
Meanwhile, McCarthy vowed that Republicans will conduct their own investigation of the riot.