Illinois Republicans push for censure of Kinzinger over Jan. 6 committee role

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A group of Republicans downstate are asking the Illinois GOP to censure Congressman Adam Kinzinger over his role in the Capitol riot hearings.

Members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus are calling the hearings a "sham" and accusing Kinzinger of making wild exaggerations and baseless claims.

In the last hearing, Kinzinger said he believes the panel has proven a criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

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Five people died that day as Trump supporters battled the police in gory hand-to-hand combat to storm the Capitol. One officer has testified about how she was "slipping in other people's blood" as they tried to hold back the mob. One Trump supporter was shot and killed by police.

"The president didn’t do very much but gleefully watch television during this time frame," Kinzinger said.

Not only did Trump refuse to tell the mob to leave the Capitol, he did not call other parts of the government for backup and gave no order to deploy the National Guard, committee co-chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming said.

Associated Press contributed to this report.