House Republican leader rejects Capitol attack panel's request to cooperate
The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack formally asked the Republican House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, on Wednesday to cooperate with its inquiry into the 6 January insurrection, escalating the pressure on Donald Trump’s top allies in Congress.
The select committee said in a letter to McCarthy that the panel was seeking details about his conversations with the Trump White House and the former president in the days leading up to and during the Capitol attack, as well as discussions in its aftermath.
McCarthy quickly announced that he would not cooperate with the investigation, but the select committee’s request demonstrated its resolve to pursue testimony from the highest-ranking Republican in Congress as it examines potential criminal conduct by Trump.
The denial of the select committee’s request also set the stage for a bitter political showdown. Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the Republican vice-chair of the panel, later refused to rule out issuing a subpoena for McCarthy to compel his testimony.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/house-republican-leader-rejects-capitol-attack-panels-request-to-cooperate/ar-AASIohF
Pressure on McCarthy forces reckoning over Trump: The Note
There is no escaping the contradictions.
The private and public versions of what House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said about the attack on the Capitol at the time and what he would say later did not and do not match up. Those questions loom over McCarthy's desire to become the next House speaker -- and will be shaped by former President Donald Trump's insistence on continuing to litigate the past.
The Jan. 6 committee now wants McCarthy's "voluntary cooperation," in a move that was long expected but has significant implications on the investigation as well as internal GOP politics. The Republican leader, who holds his weekly news conference on Thursday, has ducked most direct questions about what he and Trump discussed in real time.
According to Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., McCarthy told her Trump blamed antifa agitators for the Capitol attack and responded, when told they were Trump supporters, "Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pressure-on-mccarthy-forces-reckoning-over-trump-the-note/ar-AASJAT9
