Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who was appointed to serve on the Jan. 6 committee before Republican leadership withdrew in protest, pulled no punches in an interview with Axios about the upcoming Jan. 6 committee hearings.
What they're saying: "They're going to find probably the worst couple minutes they can find on people being assaulted here, law enforcement being assaulted. They're going to get the sobbing police officer or sobbing Democrat or somebody that said how terrible this was and now they're suffering from PTSD. ... They're going to put on a show for the American people."
"They’re not seeking the truth. … They're trying to find a way to keep Donald Trump off the ballot in 2024. That’s all this is about. They’re going to probably show us a few text messages from [former chief of staff Mark] Meadows and some of Trump's confidantes and how horrible this was, and some communications going back and forth. … This is about destroying Donald Trump. Because they are deathly afraid of him.
"And I want you to put that in your article."
The big picture: Nehls and other would-be Republican members of the committee have been quietly working on a competing Jan. 6 report focused on law enforcement and intelligence failures, as well as proposals to strengthen Capitol security.
- "There are so many questions that need to be asked of the leadership of the Capitol Police. But they're not asking those questions," Nehls said.
- "They're not trying to find a way to prevent something like this from happening again."