The January 6 Committee issued subpoenas to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Scott Perry, R-Pa., Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Mo Brooks, R-Ala. The Committee said those members “have information relevant to our investigation into the attack on January 6 and the events leading up to it.”
“Nobody’s above the law,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., explained to Fox News Digital on Thursday.
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“We’ll pursue the same actions we’d pursue with anybody else who’d refuse,” he went on when questioned regarding the chance that the Republicans who are the target of the subpoenas don’t comply. “If you’re prepared to tell the truth, why would you care? If you’re not prepared to tell the truth, it may concern you.”
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The January 6 Committee has been issuing subpoenas for months as it investigates the roots of the violent January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters. Though Thursday is the first time it subpoenaed sitting members of Congress — and the first time any congressional committee subpoenaed sitting members in U.S. history.
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The House GOP targets of Thursday’s subpoenas are already signaling that they’re unlikely to comply willingly.
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McCarthy explained to reporters Thursday that the Committee is “not conducting a legitimate investigation” and did not answer separate questions on whether he would comply with the subpoena. In an interview on “America Reports,” Biggs also railed against the committee without explicitly stating he wouldn’t comply.
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“I think the Committee is illegitimate. I thought it was that way when it started,” Biggs announced. “And they don’t really have the authority… to issue subpoenas, in my opinion.”
Jordan indicated he might not comply with the subpoena. Perry tweeted that the Committee is an “illegitimate body” and called the subpoenas “their latest charade.”
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The subpoenas are likely to tip off a lengthy legal fight over whether the Republican members must comply. The House could further vote to hold those members in contempt of Congress and refer them to the Department of Justice for prosecution.
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With the midterms coming up soon and Republicans generally expected to take command of the House, it’s not clear any legal fight over the subpoenas would be resolved by the time the next Congress begins.
The Committee will start public hearings next month, during which it can weave a narrative about January 6. Trump’s claimed "part" in it is through false allegations the election was stolen, and whether other Republicans are culpable.
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