House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected Trump-ally Rep. Jim Banks for a seat on the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
Banks, a Republican from Columbia City, joins Ohio Republican Jim Jordan on a list of those Pelosi deemed inappropriate to serve on the committee based on their statements and actions since Jan. 6.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Pelosi said their presence on the committee could potentially damage its integrity.
Banks has yet to answer WBOI’s questions regarding whether he recognizes President Biden as the legitimately elected President of the United States.
Banks responded in a written statement by calling Pelosi the “most partisan figure in America today.”
In May, Senate Republicans blocked legislation to put together an outside commission to investigate the attack on the Capitol. With the outside commission scrapped by Senate Republicans, Speaker Pelosi formed a select committee, which was then opposed by the majority of Republicans.
Banks was one of 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election after the attack on the Capitol. The attack claimed five lives and injured more than 100 police officers.
Thousands of people stormed the building during the certification of the 2020 presidential election, wielding pro-Trump flags and echoed the former president’s claim that the election was about to be stolen.