WASHINGTON -- The House panel investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection requested an interview and records from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, seeking first-hand details from members of Congress on former President Donald Trump's actions as hundreds of his supporters beat police, stormed the building and interrupted the certification of the 2020 election.
Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democratic chairman of the panel, requested that McCarthy, R-Calif., provide information to the nine-member panel regarding his conversations with Trump "before, during and after" the riot. The request also seeks information about McCarthy's communications with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the days before the attack.
"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 said in the letter. "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.'"
But it remains unclear whether the panel will be able to gain testimony from McCarthy or any other congressional allies of Trump. While the committee has considered subpoenaing fellow lawmakers, that would be an extraordinary move and could run up against legal and political challenges.
Lawmakers are seeking a window into Trump's state of mind from an ally who has acknowledged repeated interactions with the then-president. The committee also wants to question McCarthy about communications with Trump and White House staffers in the week after the violence, including a conversation with Trump that was reportedly heated.
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The committee acknowledged the sensitive and unusual nature of its request as it proposed a meeting with McCarthy on either Feb. 3 or 4. "The Select Committee has tremendous respect for the prerogatives of Congress and the privacy of its Members," Thompson wrote. "At the same time, we have a solemn responsibility to investigate fully the facts and circumstances of these events."
A request for comment from McCarthy's office was not immediately returned.
Democrats have been seeking more information about McCarthy's call with Trump that day since the former president's second impeachment trial in the days after the riot. At one point in the trial, Democrats said they would try and call Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., as a witness because she had described the call between the two men after hearing an account from McCarthy. In the end, Democrats read a statement from Herrera Beutler into the record. Trump, who had just left office, was acquitted by the Senate.
Herrera Beutler's statement said McCarthy told her he had asked Trump to publicly "call off the riot" and had said the violent mob was made up of Trump supporters, not far-left antifa members.
She said in the statement, "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 had initially criticized Trump's actions after the 2020 election, saying he "bears responsibility" for the deadly Jan. 6 attack, which remains the most serious domestic assault on the building in its history.
"The saddest day I have ever had" in Congress, McCarthy said the night of the attack, even as he went on to join 138 other House Republicans in voting to overturn Joe Biden's win.
The latest request from the panel also puts McCarthy face-to-face with its vice-chairperson, Rep. Liz Cheney, whom he dumped from the No. 3 House leadership position last summer as her very public criticism of Trump's claims about his 2020 election loss reverberated through the Republican Party.
The panel, comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, has interviewed almost 350 people and issued public subpoenas to around 50 people and organizations as it seeks to create a comprehensive record of the Jan. 6 attack and the events leading up to it.
On Wednesday, former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany spoke to the panel virtually, according to a person familiar with the interview who requested anonymity to discuss it. The committee subpoenaed McEnany in November.
Information for this article was contributed by Mary Clare Jalonick of The Associated Press.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks at his weekly news conference at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, April 22, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times)