House panel makes unusual demand
The decision by the committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection to slap House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and four other Republican lawmakers with subpoenas threatens to plunge Congress into deeper division.
No one could recall a committee other than ethics panels trying to force the testimony of colleagues, and the decision risks a near-term legal clash and long-term political reprisals.
“We’re in a new chapter,” said Thomas Spulak, a King & Spalding LLP partner who served as staff director to the House Rules Committee.
Members of the investigatory panel said they are under pressure to complete their work and still need critical information from Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other allies of former President Donald Trump about the insurrection.
“It’s a reflection of how important and serious the investigation is and how grave the attack on the Capitol was,” said committee Republican Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
So far, the panel has conducted or taken more than 1,000 interviews and depositions, and gathered more than 100,000 documents, and is now arranging eight public hearings for June. A final report is planned for early fall – before the November mid-term elections.
But McCarthy – who could ascend to the speakership next year if Republicans win the House majority – and GOP Representatives Jim Jordan, Scott Perry, Mo Brooks and Andy Biggs are signaling they will not cooperate.
“It seems as though they just want to go after their political opponents,” McCarthy complained on Thursday.