Forget the “Night of the Long Knives” – since winning a narrow majority in the U.S. House in 2022, the House Republican Conference's leadership battles have led to a session of unprecedented backstabbing on Capitol Hill, albeit without any bloodshed or arrests. (RELATED: Rep. Gallagher To Resign Early, Dealing Major Blow To GOP House Majority)
The sniping continued on Sunday when former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) accused Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) of breaking the law in an attempt to end the ethics complaint against him.
During the interview, McCarthy praised the job Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had done thus far. He was also complimentary of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) despite her decision to file a motion to oust Johnson after the House approved a $1.2 trillion spending package on Friday to avert a partial government shutdown. (RELATED: Rep. Greene Files Motion To Oust House Speaker)
“Look, the one thing I've always found, when you sit down with a member and talk to them, find out what their concerns are, especially when it's based upon policy, you can solve that problem,” McCarthy told host Margaret Brennan. “And I watched that with Marjorie, from the vote to Speaker to the vote for the Fiscal Responsibility Act. There's times she [had] a difference of opinion, and you sit down and find common ground.”
“Matt's case was much different,” McCarthy said, turning to his tumultuous relationship with Gaetz. “It was about a personal thing that he had done, and that's what he was trying to get something illegally stopped” [emphasis added].
“This is not the case here,” he noted of Greene's action. So I would not be afraid of a motion to vacate. This is about policy.”
When Brennan asked McCarthy if he had evidence to support his claim against Gaetz, McCarthy replied: “Well, I think the Ethics Committee, it was purely Matt coming to me, trying me to do something illegal to stop the Ethics Committee from moving forward an investigation that was started long before I became Speaker.”
“Something illegal?” Brennan responded.
“I don't know what the facts are there,” McCarthy claimed in reference to Gaetz's case. “It's a personal issue of what he'd done as a member of Congress.” (RELATED: Gaetz Subpoenaed In Civil Suit Involving 17-Year-Old He Allegedly Slept With)
“I simply would say the Ethics Committee has the right to look at whatever they're going forward, and I'm not going to get in the middle of it one way or another.”
Later in the interview, McCarthy declined to comment directly when asked if he had plans to serve in a future Trump administration.
(H/T Raw Story)
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