With the midterm elections all but completed, (save a pesky runoff race in the Peach State), Republican members of the House of Representatives are about to be rather busy.
That’s because, for the last 4 years, they’ve endured an incredible amount of political bullying by their Democratic peers through a number of means. The January 6th select committee may be providing us with the most cogent example, as the GOP’s preferred committee members were arbitrarily removed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
But now that Kevin McCarthy is going to be in charge, it’s definitely starting to feel as though there is a new sheriff in town as well.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader who hopes to become speaker soon, has put the committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on notice that Republicans intend to review its work. McCarthy sent a letter on Wednesday to Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the panel’s chairman, telling him that all records and transcripts produced during its term must be preserved so GOP members can look at them when they take control of the House next month, Politico reports.
McCarthy’s statement came with a firm delivery.
“The American people have a right to know that the allegations you have made are supported by the facts and to be able to view the transcripts,” McCarthy wrote.
It could get extra sticky for McCarthy as well.
The committee is scheduled to discuss what to do about the five Republican lawmakers who didn’t comply with subpoenas issued by the committee, including possibly referring the cases to the Justice Department for prosecution. McCarthy is one of them. “The subpoena I signed for him to come and testify before the committee will be part of the record,” Thompson said.
Republicans have long felt as though the work of the J6 committee was going to be focused on trying to make Donald Trump look bad ahead of the 2024 presidential election, and there is little doubt that McCarthy will be using every resource he has in order to discover the truth.
