I think that's a very poor description. The problem was not a general rejection of Republicans--specific names were rejected for being particularly unsuited, especially since they may be implicated. Then instead of negotiating the Republicans pulled the whole list and jumped right to claiming the Democrats didn't really want a bipartisan committee.
And in any case, there are
two Republicans on the committee, which makes it bipartisan (an inconvenient fact that
Warp12 ignores).
Of the Republicans that McCarthy put up for the January 6 committee (Jim Banks, Jim Jordan, Troy Nehls, Rodney Davis and Kelly Armstrong) the first three nominees were among the 147 House Republicans who voted to overturn the election, and the first two were up to their miserable necks in the insurrection, especially Gym Jordan. His nomination was a pure piss-take. When Jordan tried to help Liz Cheney during the Capitol siege, she smacked his hand away and said
"Get away from me! You ******* did this!". McCarthy knew this - he was there.
The fact is that
Nehls, Davis and Armstrong were accepted by Nancy Pelosi to serve on the committee (another inconvenient fact that
Warp12 tries to pretend never happened). However, when the other two were rejected, McCarthy spat the dummy and withdrew all five nominations. If he had acted like a grown-up instead of throwing a Trump-tanty, there would now be five Republicans on that committee.
Of course, the reason McCarthy nominated those particular people is obvious to any observer who has been paying attention, or to anyone with something remotely resembling a brain between their ears.... he was hedging his bets. He knew perfectly well that Jordan and Banks would be completely unacceptable and if rejected, he could pull the other three in an faux act of moral indignation and claim it was a partisan witch hunt. However, if either of the two in question were accepted, they would try to disrupt the investigation and spy on the proceedings in order to feed hot flashes back to him so he could get ahead of any evidence that might come to light. Apparently, he was absolutely furious when Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger volunteered and were appointed, and he hit the roof when Liz Cheney was appointed vice-chair.
The simple fact of the matter is that McCarthy did not want any investigation at all, because he and his minions are frightened of what will come out.
Personally, I dislike Liz Cheney and her politics, but here, she gets credit for her attitude to Trump's election lies and to the insurrection. She has been punished by her party for being one of the rarest types of US politicians you will ever find... an honourable Republican!
