House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan have publicly revealed that they were in contact with now-former President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, when the Capitol insurrection took place. With both Republican lawmakers appearing unwilling to testify to the congressional committee investigating the riots, the committee’s chair, Bennie Thompson, did not rule out issuing subpoenas for the congressmen.
Speaking with Punchbowl News, Thompson was pressed on whether the committee plans to issue a subpoena to Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, if she refused an invitation to speak to the committee.
Thompson confirmed that the panel would take the additional step should Ginni Thomas refuse, following revelations of her involvement in the efforts to overturn the 2020 elections.
Thompson was also pressed if the same steps could apply to certain GOP congressmen who have been asked to speak to the committee about what they knew regarding January 6. Thompson did not rule out the option.
Aside from McCarthy and Jordan, who have confirmed that they spoke with Trump on the day the insurrection took place, GOP Rep. Scott Perry was also revealed to have some information but refused to speak with the panel.
“It has not happened, but it is not off the table,” said Thompson, according to the report by the outlet. “We just have not done it.”
When Thompson was pressed regarding the time that remains for the committee until the midterm elections in November, the Democratic chair said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
The GOP is facing an internal crisis following the recent claims made by North Carolina GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn that people in Washington DC have invited him to orgies and do cocaine. McCarthy recently pledged that he would speak with Cawthorn regarding his claims.
People familiar with the matter revealed that Rep. Steve Womack addressed the claims in a House Republican Conference meeting Tuesday. Other fellow Republicans expressed frustration at Cawthorn’s claims. Cawthorn was not in attendance during the meeting, and also claimed that he has seen lawmakers who have advocated fighting addiction take cocaine in front of him.