Two progressive House Democrats to attend visit to D.C. jail housing Jan. 6 defendants

Two freshman Home Democrats shall be a part of a congressional delegation led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to the D.C. jail — the place Jan. 6 riot defendants are being held.

Driving the information: A spokesperson for Home Oversight Democrats mentioned progressive Reps. Summer time Lee (D-Pa.) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) “will minimize by means of Republicans’ makes an attempt to whitewash the damaging realities of Jan. 6.”

Between the strains: Do not anticipate the sort of bipartisan cameraderie typically discovered at CODELs led by lawmakers with aligned visions.

• The spokesperson mentioned the “MAGA-led tour” is “nothing greater than Speaker McCarthy making good on his promise to offer management of the Committee to excessive Republican voices” and famous Lee and Crockett “spent their careers defending the civil rights of those that are literally marginalized.”
• Lee, in a short interview on the Capitol on Thursday, framed her aim as “visiting incarcerated People,” including, “Nothing that I do is ‘becoming a member of’ Marjorie Taylor Greene. She shouldn’t be my chief.”

The intrigue: Lee and Crockett aren’t the one ones who wish to harness the right-wing deal with the remedy of accused Capitol rioters as a possibility to spotlight broader concern of jail reform and prisoners’ rights.

• “I’ve a Bureau of Prisons oversight reform [bill]. I am going to go to any federal jail and discuss that,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), a extra average Oversight member, informed Axios earlier this month.
• “If we’ll go to the D.C. jail, we ought to be speaking to all of the defendants and never only a subset … except that subset is being handled otherwise, and I do not assume they’re,” Armstrong mentioned.

The massive image: Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday met with the mom of Ashli Babbitt, the Trump supporter shot and killed by Capitol Police whereas making an attempt to pressure her means into the speaker’s foyer on Jan. 6.

• And in one other signal Home Republicans are forging forward with their controversial push to re-litigate the riot, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) informed Politico he is aiming to launch the primary “findings” from his investigation into the Jan. 6 committee subsequent Tuesday.

The underside line: “Sometimes … [prison] reform has been problematic more-so on the Republican aspect than the Democratic aspect,” mentioned Armstrong. “Generally it is like bizarro world out right here.”