Pelosi picks Kinzinger for Jan. 6 panel, McCarthy criticizes investigation as not 'serious'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has chosen Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) as the second Republican to join the select committee looking into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Kinzinger, who voted to impeach then-President Trump in January, said, "This moment requires a serious, clear-eyed, non-partisan approach," The Hill reported. "We are duty-bound to conduct a full investigation on the worst attack on the Capitol since 1814 and to make sure it can never happen again."

His appointment to the Jan. 6 committee follows Rep. Liz Cheney's (R-Wyo.), who also voted to impeach Trump this year, and lost her position as GOP conference chair partly for that reason.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) criticized Pelosi's appointments after she rejected two of his Republican nominees, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), according to The Hill.

"Speaker Pelosi's rejection of the Republican nominees to serve on the committee and self-appointment of members who share her pre-conceived narrative will not yield a serious investigation," McCarthy wrote in a statement.

"The Speaker has structured this select committee to satisfy her political objectives. She had months to work with Republicans on a reasonable and fair approach to get answers on the events and security failures surrounding January 6."

McCarthy also noted that the Senate has done bipartisan investigations that the House could follow.

"Speaker Pelosi's departure from this serious-minded approach has destroyed the select committee's credibility," he continued. "The U.S. Capitol and the men and women who protect it suffered a massive leadership failure. We must make sure that never happens again and that is what Republicans will be focused on."