Subpoenas over Capitol riot inflame tensions
A US House of Representatives panel issued subpoenas yesterday to House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and four other GOP lawmakers in its probe into the violent January 6 insurrection, an extraordinary step that has little precedent and is certain to further inflame partisan tensions over the 2021 attack.
The panel is investigating McCarthy’s conversations with then President Donald Trump the day of the attack and meetings the four other lawmakers had with the White House beforehand as Trump and his aides worked to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The former president’s supporters violently pushed past police that day, broke into the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
The decision to issue subpoenas to McCarthy (California) and representatives Jim Jordan (Ohio), Scott Perry (Pennsylvania), Andy Biggs (Arizona) and Mo Brooks (Alabama) is a dramatic show of force by the panel, which has already interviewed nearly 1000 witnesses and collected more than 100,000 documents as it investigates the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries.
The move is not without risk, as Republicans are favoured to capture back the House majority in this fall’s midterm elections and have promised retribution for Democrats if they take control.
“They’re not conducting a legitimate investigation,” McCarthy said after the announcement. “Seems as though they just want to go after their political opponents.”
Perry told reporters the investigation was a “charade” and the subpoena “all about headlines”. Neither said if he would comply. The panel, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, had asked for voluntary cooperation from the five lawmakers, and some other GOP members, but all refused to speak with the panel.
“Before we hold our hearings next month, we wished to provide members the opportunity to discuss these matters with the committee voluntarily,” said Mississippi representative Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the panel. “Regrettably, the individuals receiving subpoenas today have refused and we’re forced to take this step to help ensure the committee uncovers facts concerning January 6th.”
Congressional subpoenas for sitting members of Congress have little precedent in recent decades. The House has voted to hold two other noncompliant witnesses, former Trump aides Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows, in contempt.