Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) says Democrats need to be careful in which Republicans serve on a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol to ensure lawmakers accused of aiding the rioters are not included.
In a tweet Wednesday night, Ocasio-Cortez wrote, “We need a Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6th domestic terrorist attack.”
“But we must also be careful about any Republicans that may serve on the committee. There are indications that some of these folks were in on it, [and] we can’t have them be a part of the investigation,” she added.
We need a Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6th domestic terrorist attack.
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) June 30, 2021
But we must also be careful about any Republicans that may serve on the committee. There are indications that some of these folks were in on it, & we can't have them be a part of the investigation.
Her tweet comes after the House passed a measure creating a select committee to investigate the riot, largely along party lines, as IJR reported.
The committee will probe “the facts, circumstances and causes relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack” when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol.
Shortly after the violence, some Democrats raised concerns that Republican members of Congress fueled the riot or assisted those who participated in it.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) claimed that some Republican lawmakers “had groups coming through the Capitol that I saw on Jan. 5 for reconnaissance for the next day.”
Sherill did not specify which lawmakers allegedly “abetted” the rioters.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) named eight lawmakers to the select committee, including Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
As Axios reports, “The remaining five members will be picked in consultation with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), though he has not yet indicated whether other Republicans intend to participate.”
Still, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has questioned whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation was behind the riot, said she wants to serve on the committee.