SALT LAKE CITY (Washington Insider Magazine) – The Republican National Committee formally censured GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney on Friday, describing the events around the January 6, 2021 insurgency, which have been the subject of a House investigation, as “legitimate political discourse.”
From their perches on the House select committee, the two politicians were “participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse,” according to a copy of the resolution obtained by CNN. The committee has carried out interviews with nearly 400 people, ranging from members of former President Donald Trump’s close circle to organizers who helped organize the “Stop the Steal” rally on the morning of Jan 6.
Later Friday, the RNC attempted to clarify the presence of the term “legitimate political discourse” in the declaration, which criticized “senseless acts of violence” in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 coup. The committee made a contrast among those who did not conduct violence on January 6 and the protesters who forcefully assaulted the US Capitol, according to Chair Ronna McDaniel’s statement to CNN.
The resolution to rebuke Kinzinger and Cheney, both of Illinois, is unusual, and this is the first occasion the national party has formally censured an incumbent House Republican, much alone two. The resolution was framed as a motion “to no longer recognize [Kinzinger and Cheney] as part of the Republican Party” when it was presented to all 168 RNC members on Friday.
Prior to the vote, RNC members lobbied to have the resolution modified down to exclude language demanding for Kinzinger and Cheney’s removal from the House GOP Conference — a purely symbolic gesture given that the party has no power over who serves in Congress.
Kinzinger and Cheney both participated in the House select panel’s investigation of Trump’s actions prior to and during the January violence at the Capitol. Their role as the panel’s sole Republicans has garnered ire from fellow Republicans and party officials, who fear they are facilitating an unfair inquiry conducted by Democrats in Congress.
Many Republicans have challenged the motion to rebuke Kinzinger and Cheney, who were among ten House GOP legislators who voted to impeach Trump last year for his involvement in instigating the Capitol violence, including Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2012 presidential nominee.
Image via CNN
