Congressman Armstrong will be a credit to the investigation of Jan. 6 riot
MINOT, N.D. — When news broke yesterday that Congressman Kelly Armstrong had been chosen to serve on a select committee that will investigate the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, there were many in political circles familiar with Armstrong’s track record of leadership both in the state Legislature and as chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party, who were nodding in satisfaction.
Armstrong is honest. Blunt. Endearingly kinetic. While serving in the state Senate, Armstrong could often be observed fighting to free himself from his microphone cord, having become entangled in his eagerness to join in even the most banal discussions of policy.
If this Jan. 6 committee amounts to anything more than an exercise in partisan recrimination, a showdown between Democratic hyperbole and Republican denialism, I suspect it will be attributable in no small degree to Armstrong’s participation.
To be clear, Armstrong opposed the creation of this select committee, arguing that it would be a political circus that would obscure, rather than reveal, truth. We shouldn’t hold that against Armstrong.
He’s not wrong.
