众议院特别委员会正在调查1月6日的袭击周四,传唤众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡和其他四名共和党国会议员,就围绕国会大厦骚乱的事件和推翻2020年大选的努力作证。
麦卡锡和其他成员——俄亥俄州众议员吉姆·乔丹、亚利桑那州众议员安迪·比格斯、阿拉巴马州众议员莫·布鲁克斯和宾夕法尼亚州众议员斯科特·佩里拒绝了委员会的自愿请求最近几个月的合作。
“在我们下个月举行听证会之前,我们希望给成员们提供一个自愿与委员会讨论这些问题的机会,”委员会主席本尼·汤普森(D-Miss。)在一份关于传票的声明中表示。“遗憾的是,今天收到传票的个人拒绝了,我们被迫采取这一步骤,以帮助确保委员会揭露有关1月6日的事实。我们敦促我们的同事遵守法律,履行爱国义务,并像数百名其他证人一样配合我们的调查。”
在汤普森通知麦卡锡传票的信中,委员会主席向媒体公布了这封信的部分内容,汤普森说,“特别委员会非常尊重国会的特权及其成员的隐私。与此同时,我们有庄严的责任全面调查美国国会大厦遭受暴力袭击的事实和情况,以及与和平移交权力有关的问题。”
这些传票标志着该委员会策略的急剧升级,此前数周的内部辩论涉及是否试图迫使共和党人闭门作证,证明他们与前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的对话,以及参与推翻选举和质疑结果认证的努力的各个部分。
共和党成员不太可能遵守这些要求,这可能会引发与麦卡锡和其他议员的法律——至少是政治——斗争,预计这些议员明年将成为多数党,并有可能寻求报复。
预计委员会将开始一系列公开听证会他们将在下个月进行调查,并在秋季发布最终调查报告。该报告将是近1000次采访和调查人员获得的数万页记录的产物。
Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Kevin McCarthy, other GOP members for testimony
The House select committee investigatingthe Jan. 6 attacksubpoenaed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other Republican members of Congress on Thursday for testimony about events surrounding the Capitol riot and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
McCarthy and the other members -- Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania -- hadrejected the committee's voluntary requestsfor cooperation in recent months.
"Before we hold our hearings next month, we wished to provide members the opportunity to discuss these matters with the committee voluntarily," Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said in a statement regarding the subpoenas. "Regrettably, the individuals receiving subpoenas today have refused and we're forced to take this step to help ensure the committee uncovers facts concerning January 6th. We urge our colleagues to comply with the law, do their patriotic duty, and cooperate with our investigation as hundreds of other witnesses have done."
In Thompson's letter informing McCarthy of the subpoena, which the committee chair released to the media, Thompson said, in part, "The Select Committee has tremendous respect respect for the prerogatives of Congress and the privacy of its members. At the same time, we have a solemn responsibility to investigate fully the fact and circumstances of the violent attack on the United States Capitol and issues relating to the peaceful transfer of power."
The subpoenas mark a dramatic escalation in the committee's tactics and follow weeks of internal debate over whether to try to force Republicans to testify behind closed doors about their conversations with former President Donald Trump and involvement in various parts of the effort to overturn the election and contest the certification of the results.
The Republican members are unlikely to comply with the requests, which could prompt a legal -- and, at minimum, political -- battle with McCarthy and other lawmakers who are expected to be in the majority next year and in position to seek retribution.
The committee is expected to begina series of public hearingson their investigation next month, ahead of issuing a final report on their inquiry in the fall. The report will be the product of nearly 1,000 interviews, and tens of thousands of pages of records obtained by investigators.