With just a month left before Congress convenes on Jan. 3 under a Republican House majority, GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy has made clear that he intends to investigate the Jan. 6 special committee that turned a Congressional hearing into a primetime circus with relentless allegations aimed at painting Trump-supporting protestors — and, of course, the former president along with them — as radical extremists who somehow pulled off the worst attack on democracy since the Civil War without the benefit of any weapons.
In a pointed letter to the Jan. 6 committee’s head, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), McCarthy (R-Calif.) demanded that all records and transcripts from the probe be preserved in advance of a Republican-led investigation into the so-called “investigators.”
“On January 3, 2023, your work as Chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol will come to an end,” McCarthy told Thomspon. “For those reasons, I remind you and your staff on the Committee to preserve all records collected and transcripts of testimony taken during your investigation in accordance with House Rule VII.”
“As the Chairman,” the GOP leader added, “regardless of who may be directing the work of the Committee, you are responsible for the work done by its members and staff.”
We just want fairness. Nothing more nothing less. This means ppl must be held accountable. Not just a finger pointed at them.
— PhishieFromPhilly (@Phishie_Philly) November 30, 2022
The letter follows a report last week from The Washington Post that revealed concerns from 15 former and current Jan. 6 staffers that RINO Republican Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has pushed to make former President Donald Trump the focus of the committee’s final report, due to be released later this month while excluding other important findings.
“Potentially left on the cutting room floor, or relegated to an appendix, were many revelations from the Blue Team — the group that dug into the law enforcement and intelligence community’s failure to assess the looming threat and prepare for the well-forecast attack on the Capitol,” The Post wrote. “The proposed report would also cut back on much of the work of the Green Team, which looked at financing for the Jan. 6 attack, and the Purple Team, which examined militia groups and extremism.”
McCarthy seized upon that report in his letter to Thompson.
“It is clear based on recent news reports that even your own members and staff of the Committee have no visibility into the totality of the investigation,” he wrote. “Some reports suggest that entire swaths of findings will be left out of the Committee’s final report.”
McCarthy noted the time and money Thompson’s committee has consumed and vowed to get for the American people “transparency” in the matter.
“You’ve spent a year and a half and millions of taxpayers’ dollars conducting this investigation,” he wrote. “It is imperative that all information collected be preserved not just for institutional prerogatives but for transparency to the American people.”
“The official Congressional Records do not belong to you or any member, but to the American people, and they are owed all of the information you gathered — not merely the information that comports with your political agenda,” he continued, making it evident that, when the Republicans return to D.C. next month, Thompson’s committee will be placed under their microscope for a change, and he intends to start with the lack of security at the Capitol that fateful day.
“Although your Committee’s public hearings did not focus on why the Capitol complex was not secure on January 6, 2021, the Republican majority in the 118th Congress will hold hearings that do so,” he wrote. “The American people have a right to know that the allegations you have made are supported by the facts.”
Only if he means it. I don’t trust Kevin McCarthy to tell me the time of day!
— UltraMagaMama (@JustJudyZee2) November 30, 2022
While the strongly-worded letter may — at least in McCarthy’s mind — garner the California Rep. more support in his bid to replace Nancy Pelosi as the next House speaker, Thompson appeared to brush it off, telling reporters on Wednesday that he had not yet read it, but assuring them that the committee fully intends to preserve its records, according to the New York Post.
As for McCarthy, he “had a chance to have members on the committee, he had a chance to come and testify before the committee,” Thompson said, “so, I think the horse has left the barn.”
Online, few seemed impressed by McCarthy’s demands, with many pointing out that the records, by law, are already being preserved. Others simply don’t trust either side of the political aisle anymore.
“Nothing will come of this,” one Twitter user predicted. “Dems are too good at concealing their misdeeds. There will be no incriminating documents. Sworn testimony will consist of ‘I don’t recall’ and ‘I’m unable to answer that due to (insert legalese).'”
Nothing will come of this. Dems are too good at concealing their misdeeds. There will be no incriminating documents. Sworn testimony will consist of “I don’t recall” and “I’m unable to answer that due to (insert legalese)”.
— CivilRants (@OurBusinessHero) December 1, 2022
McCarthy is all about media stunts that pander to MAGA. He knows full well records are preserved.
— everlovinaddie (@AddieShepherd19) December 1, 2022
I suppose the GOP needs to respond in kind, but we’re basically just guaranteed two more years of investigations which will go nowhere, since Biden still controls the Justice Department.
— John Keezer (@Keeznuuts) December 1, 2022
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