Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick was among the majority of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against a select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection.
The Democratic-majority House voted Wednesday 222-190 to create a select committee to probe the attack. Republican members of Congress Liz Cheney, of Wyoming, and Adam Kinzinger, of Illinois, voted with Democrats to establish the 13-member committee.
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Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Middletown Township, previously voted for a 10-member commission that would be bipartisan and independent to investigate the attack that has led to hundreds of arrests.
The select commission members will been chosen by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California. Seven of the members will solely be picked by Pelosi and five in consultation with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California.
Fitzpatrick told a Politico reporter he wasn’t sure public would have “confidence” in the committee because a select committee is more partisan.
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The congressman, according to a Fox News Channel report, was key in getting Republicans to support the plan for an independent commission in May.
Fitzpatrick’s office did not respond to a request for comment on his vote by this news organization. The congressman’s press office has declined to respond to nearly two dozen inquires from this news organization since it exclusively obtained audio of then-President Donald Trump, a member of the congressman’s party, endorsing him for re-election last year.
The January 6 attack started with a riot, some of which federal authorities said was planned by extremists supporting Trump, and led to 140 police officers being hurt, one attacker being shot dead by a police officer, government property stolen from lawmakers, and millions of dollars in damage to the historic building that is a symbol of democracy around the world. Federal authorities have noted prohibited weapons were brought to the campus, lawmakers had to be rushed to secure areas, and attackers were calling for the murder of Vice President Mike Pence after he accepted the results of 2020 election.
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