The Jan. 6 select committee said on Monday that four House Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, violated congressional ethics rules by defying subpoenas for testimony and documents.
The panel referred the lawmakers for a review by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, which is seen as unlikely to take action against the members. The ethics panel declined to comment.
In addition to McCarthy, three other lawmakers were referred for defying subpoenas: Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.).
Another GOP member who ignored the summons, Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, is leaving Congress after this year and will be out of the ethics panelās reach. He has issued public statements about his contact with former President Donald Trump, including about Trumpās floating of an idea to rescind the results of the 2src2src election and reinstall him as president.
The select panel subpoenaed the five lawmakers in May. None of them complied with the summonses, generally citing concerns about the committeeās composition and legitimacy.
The ethics panel, which is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, has the power to impose fines or recommend discipline by the full House. Individual lawmakers can file complaints with the ethics panel for its consideration in the next Congress, but its investigations move slowly.
Jordan spokesperson Russell Dye denounced the referral as a āpartisan and political stuntā by the select panel. Biggs, in a tweet, also denounced the referral and called it āinappropriateā to use the ethics panel āto help reach the J6 Committeeās pre-determined conclusions.ā Spokespeople for McCarthy and Perry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Select panel members recognize the long-shot nature of the transmission but view the defiance of the subpoenas as an undermining of congressional subpoena power that could harm future investigations.
āI donāt know what the Ethics Committee will do. I donāt even know who itās composed of at this point,ā panel member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) acknowledged.
āI certainly hope the Ethics Committee will not regard this as a partisan matter,ā he added. āIt raises a profound problem that we have to solve for the 117th Congress, the 118th Congress and for all future Congresses.ā
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By Nicholas Wu and Kyle Cheney
Politico