House GOP plot investigative revenge on J6 panel as Trump itches for payback

Source: CNN | July 15, 2022 | Melanie Zanona, Gabby Orr and Zachary Cohen

House Republicans plot investigative revenge on January 6 panel as Trump itches for payback

(CNN) – House Republicans are plotting revenge on the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, as the GOP weighs a broader effort to re-litigate some of Donald Trump’s biggest election grievances if it recaptures the House majority.

The former President has been itching for payback and leaning heavily on his Capitol Hill allies to defend him against a recent slew of damaging revelations about his role in the deadly attack on the US Capitol. Now, as Republicans search for ways to undermine those findings, their party has started to lay the groundwork to investigate the select committee itself.

Republicans have already asked the January 6 panel to preserve a broad range of documents in its possession — a signal they’re preparing to force those records to be turned over should they wield powerful committee gavels next year. And privately, Republican sources say there have been discussions about subpoenaing members of the select committee, particularly Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who is fighting an uphill battle for reelection, and retiring Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, if both Republicans are private citizens next year.

It’s an idea that has garnered support among allies of the former President. But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — who has refused to comply with a subpoena from the select committee and has long held that the panel lacks the authority to haul in private citizens — is cool to the idea, according to a Republican source familiar with his thinking.

Other investigative ideas under consideration among House Republicans include establishing their own select committee — or repurposing the current one — to investigate matters such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s role in Capitol security enforcement on January 6, 2021; the intelligence and security failures surrounding that day; and the treatment of the rioters who have been jailed for their role in the insurrection.

Meanwhile, some of Trump’s fiercest acolytes have started to publicly push for hearings and probes into his baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election — even as the select committee reveals an avalanche of testimony about how those lies incited a violent mob to attack the Capitol.

“I think that it is important to seek the truth — wherever it may lead — on all of this,” GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, told CNN. “We should be looking at whatever we can through the standing committees and have a robust debate about it.”

The GOP’s growing desire to craft a counternarrative on January 6 — and shift the blame away from Trump — comes as the former President is gearing up to soon announce another White House bid. Pursuing that effort could also be politically advantageous for McCarthy, whose expected bid for speaker would be made easier with support from Trump. The former President has sometimes criticized the California Republican over how he has handled the GOP’s defense of Trump during the select committee’s investigation.

While McCarthy has vowed to conduct aggressive oversight and investigations, it’s unclear just how far he is willing to go when it comes to January 6 and the 2020 presidential election. And there could be some risks for turning the House into a venue for Trump’s vengeance campaign: Some Republicans have warned against rehashing old issues, arguing that the party would be better served by moving past 2020.

“I get it. There are people that still want to kick that dead horse,” said Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas, who quit the powerful GOP Steering Committee because he was outraged some of his colleagues weren’t reprimanded for their conduct on January 6. “But at the end of the day, I think the smartest political move for us is to concentrate our efforts on the policies that will absolutely make life better for all Americans.”

Kinzinger, meanwhile, said he wasn’t sweating the GOP subpoena threats and accused Republican leaders of being willing to destroy the Constitution to do Trump’s bidding.

“It just shows (McCarthy) is trying to impress the Freedom Caucus,” Kinzinger told CNN. “It’s who he is.”

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