Salazar on Jan. 6 subpoenas: Those ‘called and questioned should go say the truth’
U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar appeared on Sunday to call on fellow Republicans who’ve been subpoenaed by Congress’ Jan. 6 investigative body to testify on what they know about what happened during the riot.
During a recorded interview with NBC 6’s Jackie Nespral that aired on Sunday, Salazar responded to a question about the subpoenas to five GOP House members, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, saying that “no one is above the law.”
Nespral asked: “The subpoenas to five Republican House members to testify is unprecedented. First, are you concerned that this sets a new norm for Congress? And what do you know about it?”
“No one is above the law, and everyone that needs to be called and questioned should go and say the truth,” said Salazar, a first-term Republican.
She said that while she supported the initial proposal for a bipartisan independent commission — which she did not support when it passed in June in a largely party-line vote — she said she believed the commission was “in the hands of the Democrats,” but that she does not “want to cover anyone, Republicans or Democrats.”
“We need to know everything that happened that day: What Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew. What the sergeant at arms knew. Why didn’t we have reinforcements 24 hours before Jan. 6? If they knew that there could be some type of commotion that day, why some of the measures that should have been taken were not taken. We need to know everything,” she said.
The five Republicans subpoenaed by the commission — Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio,
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama and McCarthy of California — were first encouraged to testify to the bipartisan commission voluntarily to speak about meetings or calls they held with President Donald Trump or his staff around the time of the riot, but they all refused.
None of them have said yet if they will comply with the subpoena, although Biggs and Perry have both slammed the commission’s unprecedented move.
Salazar, who is running for reelection in November, did not respond on Sunday to explain what she meant by her statements. She has appeared alongside McCarthy at several public events since taking office.
A spokesperson for McCarthy did not immediately react to Salazar’s comments when asked on Sunday.
Here is the full exchange:
Q: I can’t let you go until we address the Jan. 6 riot. The subpoenas to five Republican House members
to testify is unprecedented. First, are you concerned that this sets a new norm for Congress? And what do you know about it?
A: Listen, I don’t know about it. I voted in favor of that commission that had five Republicans and five Democrats. Right now the commission is in the hands of the Democrats. We’re highly politicized. This country is highly divided and highly politicized, which I don’t think is the American way of doing business.
No one is above the law, and everyone that needs to be called and questioned should go and say the truth. We need to know everything that happened that day: What Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew. What the sergeant at arms knew. Why didn’t we have reinforcements 24 hours before Jan. 6? If they knew that there could be some type of commotion that day, why some of the measures that should have been taken were not taken. We need to know everything. I do not want to cover anyone Republicans or Democrats. We’re all Americans.