In a letter to January 6 House Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.) asked that Committee preserve all the documents in the investigation for the incoming GOP majority to review.
McCarthy detailed in the letter that the importance of the preservation of the “information collected” was not only necessary for “institutional prerogatives” but also “for transparency to the American people.”
The House Minority Leader added that the information needed to be preserved because Americans “have a right” to view the transcripts and determine that allegations the panel made were “supported by facts.”
McCarthy’s request is hollow, as Thompson confirmed on Wednesday (November 30) that not only would the information be preserved but it would be “made available to the public.”
The panel is weeks away from ending its investigation that spanned more than 1,000 interviews with witnesses over its yearlong probe.
Thompson also pointed out that McCarthy had refused to work with the Committee after two of his picks for panel members were rejected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.).
The Mississippi Democrat also pointed out that had McCarthy cooperated with the panel he would have had an opportunity to testify.
He added that following the Committee sunsetting on December 31, McCarthy will be able to read the report.
Thompson also took a jab at McCarthy, stating that a subpoena he signed to have McCarthy testify would be “part of the record.”
McCarthy’s demand that the panel maintains all its evidence comes as the Committee is set to meet on Friday (December 2) to determine how it will deal with five lawmakers who refused to comply with subpoenas — McCarthy being one of the five.
