The Capitol riot may have ended but the circus around it is far from over

What’s that? Partisan point-scoring and political manoeuvering threatening to sink a genuine investigation into the 6 January insurrection? Who’da thunk it, writes Harriet Sinclair

Is it any surprise that Nancy Pelosi put her foot down? But the house speaker is also guilty of playing games (AP)

The select committee set to look into the Capitol riot had not so much as scheduled its first meeting before it completely crumbled.

Words of unity and progress spoken in the wake of the deadly insurrection on 6 January that left five people dead, scores injured, and lawmakers in fear for their lives have quickly been forgotten in favour of partisan point-scoring and political manoeuvering.

This is, of course, not at all surprising given the limited appetite of Republicans to properly investigate the riot – the incitement of which led to the second impeachment of former president Trump, whose stooges and sycophants still claim a disquieting chunk of the party.

Nor is it surprising that, having had the suggestion of an independent commission blocked, House speaker Nancy Pelosi is determined that any select committee looking into 6 January will be as stringent as possible in its investigation.

And yet, the ongoing circus – the latest iteration of which has seen Pelosi throwing cold water over two of Kevin McCarthy’s committee picks, with a swift comeback from the minority leader withdrawing all his GOP picks from the process – is already wearing thin.

“Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts,” McCarthy said in a statement.

But let’s be clear: McCarthy picked his committee members with absolute precision, a clear middle finger up to Pelosi’s cause. Three of his five choices gave credence to Trump’s “big lie” about the election being stolen by Democrats, and two of those lawmakers went so far as to back a challenge to the election outcome in Texas.

Is it any surprise that Pelosi put her foot down? One would imagine she is as bored of the bravado and bluster as anyone; and yet here is a women who once ripped up Trump’s divisive State of the Union speech on camera, and whose “bipartisan” riot committee choice is Liz Cheney – despised by the Trump wing of the party and recently ousted by his loyalists from her role in the House Republican leadership. She, too, intended her committee choice to sting.

The pair are playing a game that all but ensures there will be no real investigation into the insurrection, and no way out of the quagmire created by the divisive and bitter politics of the former president. The 6 January riot may have ended but the circus around it is far from over.

Yours,

Harriet Sinclair

West coast news editor