Some Republicans Seem Terrified that Congress Might Get Their Phone & Text Records from Jan. 6th
Based on their reaction this week, one might think that some Republican members of Congress have something to hide regarding their role in the January 6th insurrection.
The special House committee investigating the attack on the Capital is seeking the phone and text records of several hundred people including some members of Congress as part of their probe. The committee has requested the information from various telecommunication companies like ATT, Apple and Verizon. Congress has made similar and completely legal requests in the past, but this time some members of the GOP seem absolutely terrified that the companies might turn over the information. Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy went so far as to threaten companies that complied with the request.
Politico: "Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday threatened to use a future GOP majority to punish companies that comply with the House’s Jan. 6 investigators, warning that “a Republican majority will not forget.”
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went further threatening that Republicans would "shut down" any telecommunications company that complies with the request to hand over messages to the January 6th commission.
So, why has the committee's request struck such a nerve? There might have been more coordination between rioters, former President Donald Trump, and members of Congress on Jan. 6th than we know of so far. That's certainly the suspicion.
CNN, Stephen Collinson: "Apart from the dark suggestiveness of McCarthy's threat, he may have solid political reasons for not wanting the select committee to get its hands on phone records, potentially from members of his own conference. Such records might help investigators establish whether Republican lawmakers were coordinating with Trump during the insurrection on January 6, or whether some of them spoke to the rioters themselves."
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
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