The Jan. 6 committee voted Monday to file ethics complaints against House GOP Chairman Kevin McCarthy and three of Donald Trump’s Republican allies in Congress after they failed in the panel’s probe into the U.S. Capitol riot had cooperated.
The panel’s seven Democrats and two Republicans announced they would recommend the four lawmakers at their tenth public session by the House Ethics Committee.
In addition to McCarthy, they single out Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Jim Jordan of Ohio.
“Despite the Select Committee’s repeated attempts to obtain information from these members and the issuing of subpoenas, each has refused to cooperate and have failed to comply with a lawfully issued subpoena,” the committee wrote in the summary of its final report, obtained by the DailyMail. com.
‘Accordingly, the Special Committee is referring its failure to comply with the subpoenas issued to you to the Ethics Committee for further action.’
But it also encourages Justice Department prosecutors to continue soliciting testimony from lawmakers.
The report said the Justice Department could “access, via a grand jury subpoena or otherwise, the testimonies of Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Scott Perry, Rep. Jim Jordan and others, each of whom appear to have materially relevant communications with.” Donald Trump or others had the White House, but he failed to comply with the subpoenas of the special committee.’
The Jan. 6 committee on Monday filed ethics complaints against House GOP Chairman Kevin McCarthy and three of Donald Trump’s Republican allies in Congress after they failed to cooperate in the panel’s investigation into the U.S. Capitol riot
Prominent Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan is known to have attended several meetings with the Trump campaign and even one at the White House
Rep. Andy Biggs (left) is known to have exchanged text messages with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about electoral fraud conspiracy theories ahead of the attack on the Capitol. A White House aide testified that he saw Meadows burn documents after meeting Rep. Scott Perry (right).
MP Jamie Raskin, who led a subcommittee examining criminal referrals, said during Monday’s hearing: “We understand the seriousness of every single referral we make today, just as we understand the magnitude of the crime against the Understanding democracy, that’s what we described in our report.’
“But we’ve gone where the facts and the law take us, and they inevitably lead us here,” Raskin said.
All four refused to comply with voluntary summonses to appear before the committee, which later led to unheeded subpoenas.
During the committee’s nine public hearings, they detailed Biggs, Perry and Jordan’s efforts to further Trump’s allegations of voter fraud in 2020 and went even further to get involved with the ex-president’s plan.
Perry, for example, linked Trump to Jeffrey Clark, a mid-level Justice Department attorney whom Trump wanted to appoint as attorney general so that he could send a letter to several states urging them to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral college victories.
“After Perry introduced Jeffrey Clark to the President, he sent several text messages to [then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows] between December 26 and 28 and is pushing for Clark to be promoted to the department,” the report said.
A former White House staffer testified before the committee that she saw then-Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows burn documents after meeting Perry.
Members of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol hold their final public hearing at the Canon House Office Building
Jordan is known to have attended several meetings with the Trump campaign, and even one at the White House, according to the New York Times, to discuss the execution of Trump’s vote-fraud claims.
He has also admitted to speaking on the phone to Trump on January 6 last year, but his recollections of the details and the number of calls are mixed.
Before the riot, the committee’s report said Jordan, Perry and Trump “discussed releasing social media posts to encourage Trump supporters to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6.”
Outgoing Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers previously testified before the committee that Biggs was among lawmakers who pressured him to reverse Trump’s narrow loss there.
“Rep. Biggs was involved in numerous elements of President Trump’s efforts to contest the election results,” the report said.
Back on November 6, 2020, Rep. Biggs texted Mark Meadows, urging him to “encourage state legislatures to make the appointment.” [electors].’ In the days that followed, Rep. Biggs Meadows urged President Trump not to admit his loss.
It continues: “Between then and Jan. 6, Rep. Biggs coordinated with Arizona State Rep. Mark Finchem to collect signatures from Arizona lawmakers who supported bogus Trump voters.678 He also contacted bogus Trump voters. voters in at least one state to seek evidence related to voter fraud.”
Biggs is also known to have exchanged text messages with Meadows about voter fraud conspiracy theories in the run-up to the attack on the Capitol.
McCarthy is the only one not accused of helping Trump foment the riot. In fact, the committee has gone out of its way to contrast the GOP leader’s anger at the ex-president immediately afterwards with his later comments, which downplay January 6 and delegitimize the panel’s work.
The referral to the ethics committee is largely symbolic. The long-standing panel is split equally between Republican and Democratic members.
While the committee has the power to recommend punishment of House members and staff who have violated the Code of Conduct, it is unlikely that a majority decision can be reached for serious impacts on McCarthy or the other three GOP members.
When lawmakers returned to the House on the evening of Jan. 6, McCarthy said Trump “takes responsibility” for the attack.
Subsequent details released by the committee revealed that he told other GOP leaders he urged the then-president to resign over the day’s violent events.
But McCarthy was also the top lawmaker to visit Trump just weeks later when he flew to Mar-a-Lago.
The report notes that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, recalled McCarthy being “scared” when he called administrative assistants for help when rioters broke into the US Capitol.
It also confirms the ex-president’s response: “Well, Kevin, I think these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
According to the report, McCarthy offered to provide written testimony while challenging the committee’s legitimacy – but was turned down.