The committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot on the U.S. Capitol took the unprecedented step Thursday of issuing subpoenas to 5 Republican congressmen, together with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
The Democratic-controlled dedicated beforehand requested the congressmen, which additionally embrace Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Andy Biggs of Arizona, to sit down for voluntary interviews, however all had refused.
With the exception of ethics committee investigations, the subpoenas are believed to be the primary congressional subpoenas to sitting members and can nearly actually be challenged in court docket.
The panel has stated that every one 5 congressmen, who’re allies of former President Donald Trump, have information essential to its probe of the lethal riot by a mob of Trump supporters looking for to disrupt President Joe Biden’s election victory.
In a letter to McCarthy in January, committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., stated the panel wished to listen to about discussions the House GOP chief might have had with Trump and White House staffers within the days surrounding the riot, together with a heated cellphone name with Trump on Jan. 6.
McCarthy, who was extremely essential of Trump instantly after the riot, rejected the request, saying, “I have concluded to not participate with this select committee’s abuse of power that stains this institution today and will harm it going forward.”
House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., stated Thursday that she believed a House committee had by no means subpoenaed a sitting member of Congress in her almost 30 years of service.
“I’ve never seen it before,” she advised NBC News.
Kyle Stewart and Kate Santaliz contributed.