Kinzinger Rips Rubio for Saying Aim of Jan. 6 Probe to 'Harass' Republicans

Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, knocked Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, after the latter argued that the House select committee investigating the pro-Trump January 6, 2021 attack against the U.S. Capitol aims to "smear" and "harass" Republicans.

Kinzinger, a staunch critic of former President Donald Trump, serves as one of two Republicans on the January 6 commission—the other being Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming. Both representatives were formally censured by the Republican National Committee (RNC) on Friday due to their opposition to Trump and their involvement with the investigatory body.

The censure resolution drew controversy—including from some Republicans and conservative independents—as it said that Kinzinger and Cheney were involved with opposing "legitimate political discourse." Many interpreted that line of the resolution as suggesting the pro-Trump riot targeting the federal legislative branch of government fit that definition. Rubio was asked about the RNC censure vote and the term during an interview with CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday.

"Does the RNC speak for you when it says that this is a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse. Was January 6th legitimate political discourse?" host Margaret Brennan asked the GOP senator.

Rubio responded by asserting that those who committed crimes during the attack on the Capitol should be prosecuted. However, he slammed the House select committee probing the events of that day.

"This commission is a partisan scam. The purpose of that commission is to try to embarrass and smear and harass as many Republicans as they can get their hands on," the Florida lawmaker said.

Shortly after the morning interview, Kinzinger retweeted a brief transcript of Rubio's comment. The Illinois congressman wrote in response: "No the embarrassment was done on Jan 6th 2021, at least through Feb 6, 2022 when you gave that answer."

Newsweek reached out to Rubio's press secretary for further comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Hundreds of Trump's supporters violently stormed the Capitol on January 6 in an apparent effort to disrupt the formal certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. That attack came directly after Trump at a nearby rally urged his followers to march to the legislative building and "fight like hell."

While many GOP lawmakers—like Rubio—have condemned the violent attackers, they have also voiced their opposition to the work of the House select committee. Initially, there was an effort by Democrats and some Republicans to form a more bipartisan commission to investigate the events of January 6. After that failed to be approved, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set-up the current investigatory body, which only includes two Republicans, Cheney and Kinzinger.

Both Republican lawmakers have been outspoken Trump critics. They were among the 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol assault, and also faced substantial backlash from the former president and fellow GOP members of Congress as a result.

Trump cheered the RNC's decision to censure his Republican opponents in a Saturday statement posted to Twitter by his spokesperson Liz Harrington.

"Congratulations to the Republican National Committee (RNC) and its Chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, on their great ruling in censuring Liz Cheney and Cryin' Adam Kinzinger, two horrible RINOs who put themselves ahead of our Country," the former president said.

Cheney and Kinzinger have asserted that they do not have any regrets for standing against Trump and his majority faction of the Republican Party.

"I have no regrets about my decision to uphold my oath of office and defend the Constitution. I will continue to focus my efforts on standing for truth and working to fight the political matrix that's led us to where we find ourselves today," Kinzinger wrote in a Thursday Twitter post.

"I'm a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump. History will be their judge. I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what," Cheney said in a Thursday statement.