This is quite a step forward. Let’s hope, like so many of the January 6 Committee’s efforts, that it doesn’t end up being one step forward and two steps back. That’s not to malign the Committee, rather it is to acknowledge the bottleneck to progress that a reluctant GOP presents because it doesn’t want to face the truth of its members complicity in the insurrection in the nation’s capitol.

The parties subpoenaed today are individuals who would not voluntarily appear for an interview. Now we are getting down to the nitty gritty. New York Times:

The panel said it was demanding documents and testimony from Mr. McCarthy, of California, who engaged in a heated phone call with President Donald J. Trump during the Capitol violence; Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who coordinated a plan to try to replace the acting attorney general after he resisted Mr. Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud; Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, who was deeply involved in the effort to fight the election results; Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, the former leader of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus; and Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, who has said Mr. Trump has continued to seek an unlawful reinstatement to office for more than a year. […]

The subpoenas come as the committee is ramping up for a series of public hearings in June to reveal its findings. The eight hearings are scheduled to take place over several weeks beginning on June 9, some during prime time in an effort to attract a large television audience.

“The select committee has learned that several of our colleagues have information relevant to our investigation into the attack on Jan. 6 and the events leading up to it,” Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee, said in a statement. “Before we hold our hearings next month, we wished to provide members the opportunity to discuss these matters with the committee voluntarily. Regrettably, the individuals receiving subpoenas today have refused, and we’re forced to take this step to help ensure the committee uncovers facts concerning Jan. 6.”

This is not a good day for Kevin McCarthy. He does not want to testify and if he refuses to comply with the subpoena, he might be held in contempt of Congress, which considering that there’s a midterm election coming up and McCarthy is the presumptive Speaker, should the GOP take control of the chamber, poses a situation which has never occurred before. Just one more first in the era of Trump.

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9 COMMENTS

  1. I still think that Pelosi needs to stand up before the House and remind all the members that IF any are summoned to testify before ANY committee and any members refuse, then those members will be removed from the House until such time as they choose to be LAW-ABIDING citizens. She should also remind any member who feels a committee’s legitimacy to be “questionable” that their current refusals to appear before a committee will be remembered when such members’ party should find itself in the majority and those members seek to establish committees which the new minority find “questionable” and opt to ignore requests to testify especially as certain current minority members keep bringing up the idea that they will initiate various committees of their own if their party should find itself in the majority next year.
    Pelosi should then press the issue even more pointedly and ask these current minority members of Congress how they would react if they do become the majority and establish committees and demand testimony of the new minority membership and the minority members refuse to cooperate and testify. The current minority cannot expect to behave one way as in the minority but then expect others to behave any differently when they’re in the minority. And, just to make sure even the dimmest members understand, Pelosi should say that absolutely no Democrat in any future Congress where the Democratic Party is in the minority will ever cooperate in any investigation or participate in any committee deemed only to serve an extremist GOP agenda (which would basically mean every presumptive GOP committee investigation).

    • Oh Joseph I too was a trusting soul once as are you. But lets be honest, there are no rules for them, and no justice either. Impeach a guy twice and does he leave? No. Catch him red handed black mailing a foreign World Leader, is he charged with anything? Hear and watch him engage in trying to discard the results of the Georgia Election, is he charged with anything? Jan/06, is he charged with anything? Why then would ANYONE bother to go chat with this bunch of toothless hounds. The Dems have brought their A game knife fighting to a gun fight. Watch them flounder. Watch Donald Trump get control of the sickening GOP Senate in 2022 and IMMEDIATELY cancel this committee. And all the while Chuck Schumer will chant about checks and balances. What a joke

  2. “The current minority cannot expect to behave one way as in the minority but then expect others to behave any differently when they’re in the minority. ”

    We’re talking about fucking REPUBLICANS! Of course they can expect, and would in fact (as they have in the past) utilize one set of practices for themselves and a different & far lesser/more limited set for Democrats! They would DEMAND Democrats adhere to a far more stringent set of rules.

    As with the justice system, there is one set of rules for the rich (and yet another level for the super rich, especially when it’s white collar crime) that’s tolerant and forgiving, and another set for everyone else as in most of us. A much harsher and punitive to the point of vindictive set. That’s the GOP (the rich folks) when it comes to politics. THEY get to do whatever they want up to and including breaking actual laws with minimal if any consequences. And as far as they are concerned Democrats (regular folks) will be ignored and treated as harshly as possible if they speak up.

    • ABSOLUTELY TRUE. They will be placed on double secret probation like all the rich & powerful. Ho fucking hum. Until the nice Jewish boy that grew up to be attorney General DOES HIS GODDAMN JOB, we won’t see any of these yahoos arrested. Not a one. Not one. Meadows committed provable voter fraud while leading the big lie, has been referred months ago for criminal contempt & NOTHING HAS HAPPENED.

      • Exactly. Garland is useless, the J6 comm. is useless, none of them have the guts to haul 45 or his cronies in in handcuffs screaming and kicking.

        • They are afraid to mobilize even more than that looney 70,000,000 nitwits that voted for the idiot last time and I suspect they are playing politics with it as well.

    • Exactly First that useless Oconnel convinced Obama that because it was an election year the Dems should NOT appoint Garland to the SCOTUS but let the people decide. Fair play and all that good ol rot you know, there’s a good Dem lad we’ll remember this good turn, Sure we will. How much time was left when twitterless Trump rammed Amy Barret in there to overload the court? And I bet the GOP would have liked this to stay away until after the mid terms. But the Justices are over eager to be hailed as hero’s south of the Mason Dixon Line. Garland was supposed to be one of them. Appointed there for life, he could have lasted 30 years or more. I would be soooooo miffed if it were me. So why isn’t he doing ANYTYHING. Anything at all? He’s supposed to be laying charges himself not waiting for direction from that useless Jan/06 Commission? Maybe it’s like a buddy of mine says, that Donald Trump has something on him? I’m sure that Biden pit him there thinking that he would do a little payback? But Garland is useless there.

  3. They’re legally protected for stuff they say while on the House floor. They’re NOT protected for stuff they say elsewhere, especially when they’re engaging in sedition.
    If they don’t like it, they can resign. And take the consequences.

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