WASHINGTON (AP) – A remarkable January 6th decision by the House to call on House Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans in the Capitol Uprising is as rare as the deadly riot itself, fueling outrage questions about what’s coming next.
The result will certainly go beyond an immediate investigation into Donald Trump’s baseless efforts to undo Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. Angry Republicans have vowed to use the same tools, arming congressional powers if they wrest control of the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections to follow Democrats, even at the highest levels of Congress.
“This sets a very frightening and dangerous precedent,” said Michigan spokesman Peter Meyer, who was among a handful of Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the uprising.
On Friday, summonses for McCarthy and four other Republicans were served as a commission investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which is concluding its initial phase. Public hearings are expected to begin in June, and the commission is still deciding whether to call Republican senators to testify.
Although the call for McCarthy and other Republican lawmakers was not entirely unexpected, it heightened concerns about new rules in Congress.
McCarthy, who was due to become chairman of the House of Representatives, told reporters on Friday, declining to say whether he would comply with the commission’s testimony. Asked many times for comment, McCarthy was a mother.
Other Republicans – Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Jim Jordan of Ohio and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania – condemned the investigation as illegitimate and it was unclear whether any would comply. All four held talks with Trump’s White House to challenge the election, and McCarthy tried unsuccessfully to persuade Trump to end the siege of the Capitol that day as rebels broke windows near his own office.
“They have to testify,” said Gerald Nadler, DNY spokesman, chairman of the House Judicial Committee.
“I mean, we’re investigating a revolt against the United States government,” Nadler said. “Uprising. Betrayal. “
The next steps are very uncertain, as the House of Representatives, with its democratic majority, is considering whether to take the difficult, if unlikely, action to disrespect its own colleagues in Congress by voting to send a criminal referral to the Department of Justice. prosecution.
While other lawmakers have volunteered to speak to the committee, a move to force members to share information will certainly entangle them in broader constitutional issues, including whether the executive should intervene in the management of the legislative branch, which tends to to create their own rules. The action will take months or more.
Instead, the House could take other action, including voting publicly to reprimand McCarthy and the four GOP lawmakers, referring it to the ethics committee, imposing fines or even revoking their appointments.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to answer any questions Friday.
“I’m not talking about what happens in committee on January 6,” she told the audience, addressing the panel as she usually does.
Representative Benny Thompson, D-Miss., Who chaired the bipartisan commission on Jan. 6, said there were options after five GOP lawmakers refused her request for volunteer interviews and are now facing a subpoena.
“Look, all we’re saying is that these are members of Congress who have been sworn in,” he said. “Our investigation has shown that January 6th has indeed happened, and what people have seen with their own eyes has actually happened.
This is a volatile time for Congress, with increased political toxicity becoming the norm after the Capitol uprising left five dead. These included a Trump supporter who was shot dead by police and a police officer who later died in a mafia fight.
The Capitol is slowly reopening to tourists this spring after being closed due to security concerns and the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, but concerns remain. Tensions are rising and at least one member of the committee, Liz Cheney’s R-Wyo, a vocal critic of Trump, has been accompanied daily by security guards, a shocking sign of how America has changed.
Trump’s influence over the Republican Party remains strong, leaving many Republican lawmakers reluctant to publicly accept Biden’s election victory, with some publishing their own false allegations of fraudulent elections in 2020. Courts across the country have rejected allegations that the election was were forged.
If Republicans win power this fall, they are almost certain to launch investigations into Biden, Jan. 6, and other topics now armed with the call-up tool for fellow lawmakers.
“This is a race to the bottom, this is it,” said Thomas Massie, R-Ky’s spokesman, who won Trump’s approval last week for his own re-election, despite sparring with him in the past.
“I mean, I hope when we come to power, we don’t do the same things they do,” he said. “But you know, the twist is fair.”
While Democratic leaders say they would be happy to testify if called upon by newly-elected Republicans next year, more ordinary MPs are not worried about what is coming, worried about not getting involved in the battle.
It would be rare for Congress to issue a subpoena to one of its own, but not for the first time.
Ethics committees have called on individual lawmakers for potential violations. This includes voting in the Senate in 1993 for a summons to the diary of Senator Bob Packwood, R-Ore., During an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. Faced with expulsion, he was the first to resign.
But traditionally the summons of Congress are directed outwards. Shortly after the country was founded, the first subpoena in Congress was issued not to a legislator but to a real estate speculator who tried to buy what is now Michigan and tried to bribe members of Congress, according to the House of Representatives website.
The January 6th panel has been fighting privately over whether to call on fellow MPs, realizing the seriousness of the action it will take.
After the members of the commission made their choice to issue the summons, Pelosi was informed of their decision.
Representative Jamie Ruskin, MD, a member of the commission, suggested that the decision was justified on the basis of the seriousness of the January 6 attack.
“People are asking, ‘Does this set a precedent for issuing subpoenas to members of Congress in the future?’ If there are coups and riots, then I guess there are,” Ruskin said.
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