Kevin McCarthy’s time in the barrel approaches, as the Select Committee is asking for cooperation that jeopardizes any chance that he might become Speaker in the future.
McCarthy reached out to Trump during the violence, hoping he'd convince his followers to stand down. The president apparently tried to blame leftists for the attack.
"McCarthy refuted that and told the president that these were Trump supporters," Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) added. "That's when, according to McCarthy, the president said: 'Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.'"
McCarthy told Trump, "I don't know what's happened to you in the last two months. ... You're not the same as you were for the last four years." (Woodward/Costa)
Nine days later, McCarthy traveled to Mar-a-Lago to try to get back into Trump's good graces. While Trump publicly released a picture smiling shoulder to shoulder with McCarthy, privately he was attacking McCarthy behind his back, according to Woodward and Costa.
"This guy called me every single day, pretended to be my best friend, and then, he fucked me. He's not a good guy," Trump told friends at a February dinner, making clear he was still angry with McCarthy. "Kevin came down to kiss my ass and wants my help to win the House back." www.cnn.com/...
In a letter to McCarthy, the committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), said the panel is interested in his correspondence with Meadows ahead of the attack, along with McCarthy’s communications with Trump during and after the riot. Details of those conversations could provide the committee with further insight into Trump’s state of mind at the time, Thompson wrote.
“We also must learn about how the President’s plans for January 6th came together, and all the other ways he attempted to alter the results of the election,” Thompson wrote. “For example, in advance of January 6th, you reportedly explained to Mark Meadows and the former President that objections to the certification of the electoral votes on January 6th ‘was doomed to fail.’”
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In his letter Wednesday, Thompson cited McCarthy’s conversation with Trump on Jan. 11, during which McCarthy “may also have discussed with President Trump the potential he would face a censure resolution, impeachment, or removal under the 25th Amendment,” Thompson wrote. “It also appears that you may have identified other possible options, including President Trump’s immediate resignation from office.”
The committee also mentioned various news reports that further detailed McCarthy’s conversations with Trump on and after Jan. 6, including a conversation with Trump in which he “admitted ‘some degree of responsibility’ for January 6th in his one-on-one conversations with you,” Thompson wrote.
Conversations with Trump’s legal team, Jordan and others about McCarthy’s “continued objections to the electoral votes from multiple states late in the evening of January 6th and into the morning of January 7th” are also of interest to the committee, Thompson wrote.
www.washingtonpost.com/…
www.justsecurity.org/...
- Of note is the key phrase we've seen repeatedly: "For example, even after the riotous crowd ultimately dispersed late in the day on January 6th, then-President Trump and his legal team continued to seek to delay or otherwise impede the electoral count." 2/
- "Additionally, the Committee would like to question you regarding your communications with President Trump, White House staff, and others in the WEEK AFTER the January 6th attack, particularly regarding President Trump’s state of mind at that time." 3/
- And "you may also have discussed with President Trump the potential he would face a censure resolution, impeachment, or removal under the 25th Amendment. It also appears that you may have identified other possible options, including Trump’s immediate resignation from office." 4/
- And "For example, in advance of January 6th, you reportedly explained to Mark Meadows and the former President that objections to the certification of the electoral votes on January 6th “was doomed to fail.”15 How did they respond?" 5/
- It has been reported the committee is consulting with house counsel as to the viability of subpoenas for members of congress. END
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