In an op-ed yesterday, GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel desperately tried to do damage control for her party’s decision to officially legitimize the January 6 attacks by trying to tell us to ignore her own words and pretend like the January 6 Select Committee is the problem. But let’s be clear – there’s nothing legitimate about assaulting police or trying to overturn an election. Finding the truth and making sure it never happens again is legitimate. Ronna McDaniel wants to gaslight the American people, but it won’t work. Here’s the truth:

RONNA MCDANIEL: “From the outset, the committee has lacked the legitimacy of past independent, bipartisan efforts investigating events of national importance. For starters, Republican leadership was not allowed to freely appoint a single Republican to the committee. Instead, Cheney and Kinzinger were hand-picked by Nancy Pelosi.”

REALITY: Several Republicans backed a bipartisan committee to investigate the January 6 attacks. Republicans were given the opportunity to put an equal number of Republicans on the committee, with subpoena power, but refused to participate. 

Washington Post: “A bipartisan agreement was hammered out in May by the leaders of the House Homeland Security Committee to create an independent commission that was modeled on the panel that investigated the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But it was rejected by most House Republicans and subsequently blocked by Senate Republicans.”

Washington Post: “It is made up of seven Democrats and the two Republicans who voted to establish the committee, Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. They joined at the request of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after House GOP leaders decided not to participate in the inquiry because Pelosi rejected two of their proposed members.”

RONNA MCDANIEL: “Under the Committee’s approach, almost anything related to the 2020 election is within the scope of its jurisdiction, to include harassing citizens who were not even in Washington, DC that day.”

REALITY: This is a blatant lie. There is no harassment of citizens, the committee is investigating people who played a direct role in the attacks on January 6 and attempt to overturn a free and fair election. If there isn’t anything to hide, the RNC shouldn’t have a problem with it.

USA Today: “Federal prosecutors have charged more than 700 people in 48 states with participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and arrests continue.”

USA Today: “USA TODAY gathers details of those cases as the FBI continues to find and charge those responsible for the attack that left five people dead and sent lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence fleeing to shelter.”

PolitiFact: “But the people she had in mind weren’t ordinary citizens. They purported to be acting in an official capacity and participated in a national level scheme to overturn the 2020 election.”

RONNA MCDANIEL: “As I have repeatedly stated, violence is not legitimate political discourse – whether in the U.S. Capitol or in Democrat-run cities across the country – and neither is abusing Congress’ investigatory powers for political gain. Media outlets pretending that the RNC believes otherwise are doing so in bad faith, and their lies should be called out for the cheap political stunts they are.”

REALITY: Just this past week, Ronna McDaniel referred to the January 6 attacks as “legitimate political discourse,” downplaying the seriousness of the attacks that endangered officers, elected officials, and staff. 

Insider: “RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel says January 6 committee is a ‘Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse’”

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