UPDATE:
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will not cooperate with the House select committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol Building. The committee had asked McCarthy to sit down for an interview.
McCarthy responded in part:
“As a representative and the leader of the minority party, it is with neither regret nor satisfaction that I have concluded to not participate with this select committee's abuse of power that stains this institution today and will harm it going forward.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building has a new request. This time it is aimed at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
McCarthy received a six-page letter this afternoon from Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) asking him to provide the committee with information about conversations he had with Trump “before, during and after” the riot.
SEE ALSO: Controversy on Phone Records Intensifies Amid Jan. 6 Probe
At one point, Thompson wrote, “We also must learn about how the President's plans for January 6th came together, and all the other ways he attempted to alter the results of the election.” Thompson added, “For example, in advance of January 6th, you reportedly explained to Mark Meadows and the former President that objections to the certification of the electoral votes on January 6th ‘was doomed to fail.'”
McCarthy is the highest-ranking Republican to be asked by the committee for their voluntary cooperation.
FOX10 reports:
But it remains unclear whether the panel will be able to gain testimony from McCarthy or any other congressional allies of Trump. While the committee has considered subpoenaing fellow lawmakers, that would be an extraordinary move and could run up against legal and political challenges.
SEE ALSO: DeSantis Gives Perfect Answer to Media Obsessed With Jan. 6
Lawmakers are seeking a window into Trump's state of mind from an ally who has acknowledged repeated interactions with the then-president. The committee also wants to question McCarthy about communications with Trump and White House staff in the week after the violence, including a conversation with Trump that was reportedly heated.
The committee acknowledged the sensitive and unusual nature of its request as it proposed a meeting with McCarthy on either Feb. 3 or 4. “The Select Committee has tremendous respect for the prerogatives of Congress and the privacy of its Members,” Thompson wrote. “At the same time, we have a solemn responsibility to investigate fully the facts and circumstances of these events.
So far, the committee has interviewed approximately 300 people. Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows have been found in criminal contempt by Congress for their refusal to cooperate with the committee. Bannon has also been indicted by a federal grand jury.
The committee says the extraordinary trove of material it has collected — 35,000 pages of records so far, including texts, emails and phone records from people close to Trump — is fleshing out critical details of the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries, which played out on live television.
SEE ALSO: McCarthy Plans to Oust Schiff, Swalwell and Omar From House Intel and Foreign Affairs Panels
McCarthy's office has not yet responded to requests for comment.
He should tell Thompson to suck eggs until they put some real Republicans on the committee and allow for a section of the report to deal with how Pelosi and the Mayor of DC allowed it to happen as well as the FBI/DOJ involvement. We still need answers on what BLM connections were and we need answers on why Ashley Babbit’s murder has been shielded. We also need an examination of how the folks arrested have been treated. This committee, as organized, is not worthy of cooperation.
I totally agree with you. When was the last time the Democrats cooperated with the Republicans on anything?