Rep Schiff: Kevin McCarthy and His 'Boss,' Trump, Are ‘Scared’ of Exposing Their Phone Data on Jan. 6th
Republicans panicking over request for records related to probe into January 6 insurrection
Congressional Republicans appear to be in a full, melt-down panic over an order given by the House select committee investigating the events surrounding the January 6 Capitol insurrection for telecommunications and other companies to turn over relevant records to that investigation.
Specifically, the committee asked telecom companies to preserve phone records of certain congressional members, including GOP Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) called such an order “illegal,” despite the fact that all subpoenas issued by Congress are fully legal.
And Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) appeared on national television to threaten any company — such as AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless — which complies with these lawful subpoenas, would be “shut down.”
A House select committee consisting of Democrats and two rogue Republicans have begun looking into the events surrounding the deadly January 6 riot in lieu of the bipartisan commission which had been proposed but Senate Republicans ultimately blocked.
Those on the committee are aware of the seriousness of potentially having to investigate colleagues who may have facilitated, aided and abetted the insurrection, said Rep Adam Schiff (D-Calif), a member of the select committee.
“I think participating in an insurrection, an armed insurrection against the government is among the most serious ethics violations you could imagine, if not more than that. But, yes, we did consider it, and I think that at the end of the day we’re determined that whoever was involved in this effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power should not be able to hide behind their office,” Schiff said. “We want to develop all the facts. If people were not involved in trying to overturn the government, they shouldn’t be concerned.
“But Kevin McCarthy clearly is, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is his boss, his master at Mar-a-Lago doesn’t want it to happen,” Schiff added, referring to former president Donald Trump, who incited the riot, the aim of which was to overturn the lawful and legitimate certification of Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.
It's false to say — as McCarthy has — that it would be illegal for companies to comply with the committee's subpoenas. And McCarthy's statement that “a Republican majority will not forget” those companies who comply is most certainly a threat, according to Schiff.
“Well, it’s a threat and it’s a threat premised on a falsehood, that somehow asking these companies to preserve records or ultimately to turn over records of people involved in an insurrection is somehow against the law. That’s just flat wrong,” he said. “But McCarthy, look, he’s scared. And I think his boss is scared. They didn’t want this commission and this select committee to go forward. They certainly didn’t want it to go forward as it is on a bipartisan basis, and they don’t want the country to know exactly what they were involved in. And you can see why. I mean, these two stories are not unrelated to each other.
“His caucus, his conference members are people like [Republican Rep Madison] Cawthorn who are still pushing the ‘Big Lie’ that resulted in the insurrection to begin with. They’re still pushing the Big Lie that may result in further violence in the future,” Schiff added. “The last thing McCarthy wants to do is take on these rabble-rousers because, frankly, they represent Donald Trump, and Kevin McCarthy lives to do whatever Donald Trump wants. But he is trying to threaten these companies, and it shows yet again why this man, Kevin McCarthy, can never be allowed to go anywhere near the Speaker’s Office.”
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