The 1/6 Committee has referred Reps. Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy, Scott Perry, and Andy Biggs to the House Ethics Committee for sanctions for not complying with a lawful subpoena.
Video:
1/6 Committee refers Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, and 2 other House Republicans to the Ethics Committee for sanctions for failing to comply with a lawful congressional subpoena. pic.twitter.com/7CSobjeNoq
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) December 19, 2022
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said at the 1/6 Committee meeting:
Nor are President Trump and his team the only people identified for referrals and our report. As part of our investigation, we asked multiple members of congress to speak with us about issues critical to our understanding of this attack on the 2020 election and our system of constitutional democracy. None agreed to provide that essential information.
As a result, we took the significant step of issuing them subpoenas based on the volume of information that particular members possessed about one or more parts of president trump’s plans to overturn the election. None of the subpoenaed members complied. And now we are referring four members of congress for appropriate sanctions by the House Ethics Committee for failure to comply with lawful subpoenas.
Mr. Chairman, we understand the gravity of each and every referral we are making today. Just as we understand the magnitude of the crime against democracy that we described in our report.
Referring McCarthy, Jordan, Perry, and Biggs to the Ethics Committee was a smart choice because the House Ethics Committee contains no partisan majority. It is evenly split.
The 1/6 Committee doesn’t have the time to sue the House Republicans to comply with the subpoenas, and it is a fantasy to think that the Justice Department would prosecute a member of Congress for contempt of Congress even if the House would have had the time to pass contempt charges.
The ethics investigations could hound Jordan, McCarthy, Perry, and Biggs for years. McCarthy has bigger problems as his career is probably over if he isn’t elected speaker, but the committee did the right thing by making sure that defying a lawful subpoena carries consequences.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
