While some Trump administration officials have been indicted for refusing to cooperate with the January 6 select committee's investigation into the deadly siege at the US Capitol, a half-dozen House Republicans have sidestepped testifying. The holdouts, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan of Ohio, have different reasons for not participating. Some of Trump's advisers sought pardons in the final days of the administration, despite the fact that they were aware of his efforts to overturn the election. Their arguments could come back to haunt them if they win back control of the House this fall, and if they try to flex the new majority party's powers next year only to have House Democrats recycle the precedent setting rejections. In a May 2, 2022, letter, the select committee asked for testimony about public statements he made in March about Trump trying to get him to re-elect him as president. The grievances were aired after Trump withdrew his endorsement from the race for Senate. The "partisan Witch Hunt Committee" was the subject of a statement by Brooks in which he laid out some conditions for testifying. "If they want to talk, they're going to have to send me a subpoena, which I will fight." In an interview with Insider, he said that he is an outlier among the investigation's targets because everything he knows is already in the public domain. "I am different from all other persons the Committee wants to interview in that I have already given numerous, lengthy written, sworn statements (Swalwell lawsuit) and written, unsworn public statements that detail my knowledge and conduct concerning January 6 events," he wrote. The committee already has a full accounting of my knowledge. The longest paper trail is held by Jordan. Jordan was asked to testify about his communications with Trump before, during, and after January 6, 2021. Jordan said in his initial response that he had no relevant information to give the committee. In his first letter back to the committee, Jordan wrote, "This request is far outside the bounds of any legitimate inquiry, violates core Constitutional principles, and would serve to further erode legislative standards." Jordan was still waiting to hear back about the questions he posed to the committee in January when he was subpoenaed. The same concerns still exist today and have only grown as the Select Committee has continued to leak nonpublic information in a misleading manner. A judge swept aside arguments made by one-time Trump advisor Steve Bannon in his failed attempt to get his contempt of Congress trial dismissed, and also dismissed Republican contentions that the committee is improper and does not serve a legislative purpose. Jordan wrote a letter to the committee on June 9 explaining why he wouldn't testify. Jordan objected to the panel's formation, membership, subpoena powers, and "legislative purpose" in the third missive. Jordan wrote that you seem to believe that you have the authority to decide on a colleague's activities. I don't answer to you or the other members of the committee. I am accountable to the people of Ohio's fourth congressional district. The select committee has repeatedly asked Loudermilk to testify about a tour group he led through the US Capitol complex on January 5, 2021. The first letter of the committee's stated that it had reviewed security footage of the tour and had questions about where they had been. On January 5th, Loudermilk was defended by a ranking member of the House Committee on Administration, who called reports of GOP-led tours "nonsense" and urged the Capitol Police to release all security footage. The committee released clips of the Loudermilk-led tour on June 15 and followed up with another letter asking him to explain why one of the photo-snapping group members appeared to be documenting areas not typically of interest to tourists. Loudermilk accused the committee of undermining the Capitol Police and doubling down on their campaign. Loudermilk's account of who was on the tour has changed over the last 18 months. McCarthy was told to testify about his communications with Trump before, during, and after January 6, 2021. McCarthy has acknowledged that he had a conversation with Trump, but he has so far refused to talk to the committee about it. He was subpoenaed by the committee about it. McCarthy told reporters that he is considering releasing the letters he sent to the committee to the press. McCarthy aides didn't reply to the request for copies of the letters. Berke wrote a letter accusing the committee of playing partisan politics. Berke wrote that the only objective appears to be to attempt to score political points or damage its political opponents. McCarthy said the difference is that House Republicans will not be illegitimate if they claim the majority next year. McCarthy told reporters at a June 9 press conference that they wouldn't issue subpoenas. Congress is supposed to do what we're supposed to do. We're going to uphold the constitution. In a December 20, 2021, letter, the select committee asked for testimony about his communications with Trump administration officials about installing Jeffrey Clark as acting US attorney general to overturn the 2020 election results. In a May 12 press release, he accused the political witch hunt offabricating headlines, but he didn't say if he would testify. John P. Rowley III replied to the committee on May 24. The committee was operating in violation of its own rules and was committed to scoring political points rather than focusing on the troublemakers who broke into the Capitol. He denied that he sought a presidential pardon for the election tampering. During the June 9 hearing, Liz Cheney said that investigators had found evidence that GOP lawmakers had been scheming to get pardons after the Capitol was attacked. Continue to read.
—House Admin. Committee GOP (@HouseAdmnGOP) May 20, 2022
—Rep. Barry Loudermilk (@RepLoudermilk) June 15, 2022
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