House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is now being targeted by the congressional committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection. According to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, McCarthy’s recent reactions suggest that he has something to hide.
Speaking on MSNBC, Raskin, who serves on the committee, said that the House Minority Leader might have something to hide. Raskin’s explanation shortly follows McCarthy’s statement saying that he refuses to voluntarily testify before the committee. Raskin explained that McCarthy might be trying to hide from the base of supporters of former President Donald Trump, whom he has chosen to align himself with.
Raskin also pointed out that McCarthy initially condemned the insurrection that took place, displaying “some measure of independent critical thinking.”
“One is, he’s hiding from the Trump base which he’s now tried to dive into,” said Raskin.
“So he’s trying to conceal the fact that he considered at least the violent insurrection part of the day’s activities a major threat to human life and limb to our democracy,” the Democratic lawmaker continued. “But he also may be trying to hide the fact that he was implicated in the political coup dimension of the day’s activities. That is, he may have been totally with the program in terms of trying to get Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally reject electoral college votes invoking essentially lawless powers to do that. So we don’t know. This is why we need him to come in, because we have to give a complete accounting to the American people about what took place.”
McCarthy’s refusal to testify before the congressional committee, however, may have criminal implications, according to Greg Sargent of the Washington Post. Sargent explained that by McCarthy refusing to testify before the committee, the House Minority Leader may as well be helping cover up crimes committed by former President Donald Trump.
Sargent noted that McCarthy likely has direct knowledge of what the former president’s conduct was as the insurrection took place.
NYU Law Professor Ryan Goodman also explained why McCarthy’s testimony is essential for the January 6 committee. Goodman explained that McCarthy appears to have direct evidence that is key to proving the crime against Trump for obstructing an official congressional proceeding.