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A commission investigating the January 6, 2021, pro-Trump Capitol attack on the Capitol has summoned five Republican members of Congress, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, after refusing to cooperate with the commission’s investigation.
Representative Benny G. Thompson (D-Miss.), Who chairs the elected committee, said Thursday that the committee had summoned McCarthy and representatives Mo Brooks (Alabama), Andy Biggs (Arizona), Scott Perry (Pennsylvania) and Jim Jordan (Ohio). ).
The move marked a significant escalation in the commission’s efforts to obtain information related to lawmakers’ communications with then-President Donald Trump and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows before, during and after the attack.
In a statement, Thompson said the commission “has learned that several of our colleagues have information related to our investigation into the January 6 attack and the events that led to it.”
“Before the hearings next month, we wanted to give members the opportunity to discuss these issues with the committee on a voluntary basis,” Thompson said. “Unfortunately, the people who are being summoned today have refused and we are forced to take this step to ensure that the commission reveals the facts about January 6. We call on our colleagues to abide by the law, to fulfill their patriotic duty and to cooperate in our investigation, as hundreds of other witnesses have done. “
In letters to McCarthy and Brooks, the commission said it was forcing the two Republicans to testify on May 31. Biggs and Perry are due to testify on May 26, and Jordan is due to testify on May 27.
The summons comes before the long-awaited public hearings of the commission, which are due to begin on June 9.
Until Thursday, the committee was reluctant to call on GOP lawmakers over various issues, including time constraints – a complex and protracted judicial battle could continue after the November midterm elections – along with fears of retaliation likely to win back Republican majority in the House.
According to two people familiar with the investigation, investigators are working to identify precedents for summoning meeting members. One example they focused on was the two-year investigation by the Ethics Committee of the House of Representatives on personal finances of former Congressman Charles B. Rangel (DN.Y.). Rangel, who was eventually found guilty of 11 ethical charges, was summoned by the subcommittee of inquiry after refusing repeated requests for a forensic accountant’s report and other documents.
All five Republicans called on Thursday refused to voluntarily provide information to the committee.
In a brief interview with reporters on Thursday, McCarthy declined to say whether he would comply with the summons, while reiterating his criticism of the commission.
“My view of the commission has not changed,” he said. “They are not conducting a legal investigation. It seems that they just want to persecute their political opponents. “
Jordan also declined to say whether he would comply. The other deputies did not respond immediately to the news of the summons.
In a January letter to McCarthy, Thompson said the group was interested in his correspondence with Meadows before the attack, along with McCarthy’s communications with Trump during and after the uprising. The details of these talks could give the commission a further idea of Trump’s state of mind at the time, Thompson wrote.
“We also need to learn about how the president’s plans for January 6 came together and all the other ways he tried to change the election results,” he wrote. “For example, before January 6, you reportedly explained to Mark Meadows and the former president that objections to the certification of the January 6 electoral vote were” doomed to failure. “
McCarthy responded in January, saying in a statement that “the commission’s sole purpose is to try to harm its political opponents.”
If Republicans return to the House of Representatives in November, McCarthy is expected to be elected speaker, although some members of the House of Representatives’ GOP conference have expressed reservations following the recent leak of audio recordings in which McCarthy blamed Trump for the uprising and expressed concern to several Republicans in the House of Representatives days after the January 6 attack.
Representative Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Chairman of the Conservative Republican Research Committee, said he would trust McCarthy and others to comply with the summons. He claims – as almost everyone in Parliament’s parliament has said – that the bipartisan committee is a “witch hunt”.
“It’s a political circus,” Banks said. “It’s a joke. And no one is surprised that they’ve taken another step to politicize this completely.”
Asked Thursday whether he thought McCarthy and the other four Republicans would comply with the summons, Thompson said: “I hope they will.”
During the investigation, the names of the five Republicans “came out in different ways and we think the information and the answer to it are important,” Thompson told reporters at the Capitol.
He declined to say whether a vote of disrespect could be reached if lawmakers refused to comply.
“No talk of contempt. We will talk about the next steps, which can be several things, “Thompson said.
The leader of the majority in the House of Representatives, Steni H. Hoyer (D-Md.), Rejected the idea that the committee’s decision to call the five deputies marked a political escalation.
“This is not an escalation at all,” Hoyer said on Thursday. “We all need to be asked to tell the truth to a committee that is looking for information that is important to our country and our democracy.
He dismissed speculation that Democrats could face future calls for a potential Republican majority.
“I have no problem being called in person,” Hoyer said. “You know, I’ll tell the truth. If I have the information they need, that’s fine. I do not understand this extraordinary reaction to a lawful, appropriate process. “
Mariana Sotomayor, Lee Ann Caldwell and Mike Debonis contributed to this report.
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