Jan. 6 Inquiry Weighs a Major Escalation: Subpoenaing Colleagues
WASHINGTON — The refusal by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, to be interviewed by the House committee scrutinizing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol raised the prospect of a subpoena of the highest-ranking House Republican, prompting legal questions with little court precedent and escalating the political stakes of the investigation.
For weeks, members and investigators on the special House panel have privately agonized over how aggressive to be in pursuing sitting members of Congress, weighing their desire for information about lawmakers’ direct interactions with former President Donald Trump against the potential legal difficulty and political consequences of doing so.
Now, they are wrestling with whether to subpoena McCarthy, the man who is in line to be speaker if Republicans retake the House this November, setting in motion a process that could lead to a Democratic-controlled House holding him in contempt of Congress with the midterm elections looming. Congressional investigators have rarely confronted a situation that carries such hefty stakes for their institution.
Behind closed doors, committee and staff members have been researching the law, parliamentary rules and past precedents as they discuss whether to proceed, people familiar with the inquiry said.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/jan-6-inquiry-weighs-major-130649856.html
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