Be wary of igniting tensions within your own party, the Republican leader of the House Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthyEx-Sen. Jeff Flake asks the Republican Party to leave Trump: ‘We should’ condemned Juan Williams: Bring sanity back to the Republican Party Some thoughts on cracks in an impeachment exhibition MORE (California) is keeping silent about its frantic January 6 call to then-President Trump
Donald TrumpBiden: ‘I’m tired of talking about Trump’ Hacker claims to have stolen files from Trump-related law firm: WSJ Texas Governor faces criticism about how to deal with winter radioactive precipitation MORE while protesters invaded the Capitol.
But he may not have that luxury forever.
That heated call – which Democratic prosecutors were part of the official impeachment record – is almost certain to be investigated by the 9/11 style commission that the spokesman Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi’s change of opinionSpeaker Pelosi on censorship READ: Trump statement tearing up McConnell The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Biden’s first official trip as president MORE (D-Calif.) It is promising to examine the events surrounding the deadly January 6 uprising.
Congress is moving fast. Leadership sources said a bill to create an independent commission could be launched this week.
Several House and Senate committees, all controlled by Democrats, are also expected to review the McCarthy-Trump call, in which Trump allegedly blamed far-left antifascists for the attack and suggested that pro-Trump protesters were more patriotic than besieged lawmakers. .
The call could also be part of any future criminal or civil complaints against Trump, including a lawsuit filed on Tuesday by the Democratic President of the Homeland Security Committee Bennie Thompson
Bennie Gordon Thompson Giuliani does not represent Trump on legal matters, said NAACP spokesman, Deputy Bennie Thompson sues Trump, Giuliani over Capitol Krebs riot, other officials urge Congress to take vigorous measures to contain cyber threats. MOST (Ms.) .
“The thought of interrogating Kevin McCarthy filled my heart with joy,” one of the impeachment managers, Del. Stacey Plaskett
Stacey Plaskett Impeachment Manager Plaskett: Republican Party senators have privately said that she ‘made the case’ against Trump. Congressional Democrats say Trump’s acquittal was a foregone conclusion MORE (D-Virgin Islands), said on MSNBC on Monday.
The 9/11 type commission “will analyze the facts related to the 6 January domestic terrorist attack. Certainly the president doing nothing to prevent the attack, even after the insistence of the Republican leader of the Chamber, would be a relevant part of the investigation ”, the deputy. Ted Lieu
Ted W. LieuProgressives urge Biden to choose attorney general to sue Trump The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by TikTok – Dems close their case; Trump verdict this weekend Even with absolution, GOP sees trial ending Trump’s chance in future office MORE (D-Calif.), An impeachment manager and member of Pelosi’s leadership team, told The Hill on Tuesday.
McCarthy was one of the first leaders to endorse the 9/11-style commission, and he issued a statement on Tuesday, both extending the summons and warning against any party inclination to the panel.
“It is our responsibility to understand the security and intelligence breaches that led to the January 6 riots so that we can better protect this institution and the men and women who work in it,” said McCarthy. “A committee must follow the guidance of Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton to be ‘independent and bipartisan’ and, to preserve that integrity, it must be divided equally between the two parties.”
Republicans hope the commission will shed new light on whether threat assessments – conducted by the FBI and Capitol Police, among others – were shared with congressional leaders in the days before the attack.
“I want to see what Pelosi knew, when he heard, what President Trump did after the attack and, on the Senate side, the Senate leadership was informed of a threat,” said the senator. Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin GrahamGraham: Lara Trump is the biggest winner of the impeachment trial Democrats in Congress say Trump’s absolution has been lost. Sunday Show – Trump’s acquittal in second impeachment trial reverberates MORE (RS.C.) said in an interview with “Fox News Sunday”. The Senate reference was the GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellBiden: ‘I’m tired of talking about Trump’ READ: Trump statement tearing McConnell Trump offloads on McConnell, promises primary MAGA challenges MORE (Ky.), Who was the majority leader at the time of the siege.
However, the forthcoming investigations, which promise to span many months, will also keep the public eye on Trump’s actions during the attack on the Capitol. Many Republicans hoped to turn the page on Trump’s turbulent chapter and unite in opposition to President biden
Joe BidenBiden refuses the student loan forgiveness plan K Biden offers to help a woman get vaccine for a child with pre-existing illness. Optimistic US biden will be in ‘very different circumstances’ with the Christmas pandemic MORE before the 2022 elections, when both chambers are at stake.
New revelations about McCarthy-Trump’s appeal to enraged lawmakers on both sides, and will certainly be presented in any investigation that looks for ideas about Trump’s thinking during the deadly attack. The details of the call dominated the last day of Trump’s second impeachment trial, after House prosecutors shocked Washington and made a last-minute attempt to hear witnesses, including Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler
Jaime Lynn Herrera BeutlerCongressional Democrats say Trump’s acquittal was lost on Sunday shows – Trump’s acquittal in the second impeachment trial reverberates Democratic Senator defends decision not to call witnesses: ‘They would not get more Republican votes’ (R-Wash.), Who said McCarthy had personally told her about the content of his January 6 call with Trump. Senators voted 55-45 to extend procedures and allow witnesses to testify.
But moments later, prosecutors and Trump’s defense team struck a deal to avoid witnesses and instead admit Herrera Beutler’s 255-word statement on the record as evidence. In it, the congresswoman – one of 10 House Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment – said McCarthy told her how she called Trump during the January 6 uprising and begged him to cancel the attack. During that call, Trump seemed to celebrate the rioters while trying to overturn the election, according to Herrera Beutler’s narrative.
“When McCarthy finally reached the president on January 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully cancel the mutiny, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was the antifa that violated the Capitol,” said Herrera Beutler in his statement.
“McCarthy refuted that and told the president that they were Trump supporters. That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said, ‘Well, Kevin, I think these people are more upset about the election than you are.’ “
Apparently, McCarthy was furious. CNN reported that the Republican leader’s response to his White House ally was anything but cordial when protesters smashed his office windows: “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?” McCarthy said.
Later that afternoon, McCarthy told Fox News that he called Trump to give him “a first-hand report” of the violence to convince him to ask his supporters to stop. And a week later, when the House was ordered to charge Trump, McCarthy said he would oppose that effort, but made it clear that he thought Trump was the direct culprit for the attack.
“The president is responsible for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mafia rebels,” McCarthy told the House floor. “He should have immediately reported the crowd when he saw what was going on.” McCarthy launched the idea of censoring Trump instead of impeachment.
However, a week later, McCarthy was singing a very different tune, arguing that Trump was not the spark that sent the crowd to the Capitol and therefore should not be blamed for the violence that followed.
“I don’t think he provoked you if you heard what he said at the rally,” McCarthy told reporters. The comments contradict those from McConnell, who said that Trump did indeed “provoke” the attack.
McCarthy followed these comments by taking a trip to visit Trump in Mar-a-Lago at the end of last month, when the Republican leader asked the former president to help Republicans in the 2022 races across the country.
But McCarthy said nothing publicly about Herrera Beutler’s account of his connection with Trump, including the swearing denunciation of Trump’s actions.
A McCarthy spokesman declined to comment on the episode on Tuesday.
McCarthy’s turnaround reflected the harsh political reality facing Republican Party leaders in the direction of a 2022 cycle, when camera control is at stake. They may be furious with Trump for his actions around the attack, but the former president remains the most popular figure in the Republican Party – one with enormous influence over base voters – and an overwhelming majority of Republicans on Capitol Hill are now trying to make peace with Trump, rather than irritating his feathers.
“For the Republican Party, if you want to win and hinder a socialist agenda, we need to work with President Trump. We can’t do this without him, ”Graham told Fox News Sunday. “THE [former] President is a handful, and what happened on January 6 was terrible for the country, but he’s not the only one to blame. ”
If the 9/11-style commission is led by independent investigators, Congress is unlikely to be ready to hand over exclusive responsibility to strangers. At least half a dozen House committees are ready to launch their own polls, which will take two generally different paths.
One, led by the Homeland Security, Intelligence and Supervision committees, will focus largely on the intelligence that led to the attack, including the role of outside companies like Parler. The second, led by the Chamber’s Administration and Appropriations committees, will focus primarily on the Capitol’s internal security, including assessments and communications between the various law enforcement agencies during the siege.
It is the second track that is likely to include the so-called Trump-McCarthy ballot.
“We better find out why it happened, how it happened, how security was breached, so that we can make recommendations to ensure it never, never happens again,” former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, who served as chairman of the bipartisan Commission 9/11, he told PBS.