REBUKE

Jake Tapper Calls Out Susan Collins Over Bizarre Defense of GOP Attacks on Jan. 6 Panel

The Maine Republican voted to impeach Donald Trump. Now she’s going after Nancy Pelosi for how the speaker set up the probe of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Sen. Susan Collins on Sunday took issue with Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejecting two of the Republicans nominated by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to join the panel probing the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Collins claimed that she hoped the committee would be bipartisan despite McCarthy nominating Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Jim Banks, R-Indiana, both of whom spread the Big Lie—claiming nonexistent voter fraud—that inspired the assault that day.

“I fought very hard to have an independent, bipartisan, nonpartisan, outside commission to look at all the events of that day,” Collins said on CNN’s State of the Union. “I think it would’ve had far more credibility than Speaker Pelosi’s partisan committee that she has set up.”

But Tapper pushed back on the fair-weather moderate, pointing out that Republicans in the Senate blocked a truly independent investigation, and also that Pelosi had her reasons.

“The reason she did that is because at least two of the members McCarthy picked to be on the committee are election liars. One of whom, Jim Jordan, is possibly a material witness,” he said. “He spoke with Trump that day.”

Collins proceeded to acknowledge the president helped cause the attack that day, citing her vote to impeach him.