Kevin McCarthy: January 6 Committee ‘Show Trial’ Must Be Stopped

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack a political “show trial” that must be stopped, in a floor speech he delivered in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

McCarthy spoke during debate over whether to hold Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro, both former aides to President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress.

While condemning the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021, McCarthy accused the committee of trampling the civil liberties of witnesses who had been called to testify, issuing subpoenas for private bank and phone records, sometimes without the advance knowledge of the witnesses. He called its behavior a “disgusting betrayal of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”

As Breitbart News has reported, Scavino was recommended for contempt by the committee on the basis of false claims that he had refused to cooperate with the committee, when in fact he had done so but had not been told the scope of possible testimony. His attorneys had also raised concerns about possible violations of executive privilege by the committee.

Navarro refused to cooperate with the committee, though he has said publicly that the January 6 rally was intended to be peaceful. Many Trump aides are arguing in court that the committee has exceeded its mandate and its resolution terms.

McCarthy nominated five nominees to serve on the committee, but Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) refused to seat all of them, in an unprecedented gesture. McCarthy then withdrew Republican cooperation with the committee. Pelosi then appointed Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), both of whom are avowed opponents of Trump.

The minority leader, who would take over as Speaker in 2023 if Republicans win back the House in November, accused Democrats of trying to use “the power of the federal government to jail their political opponents.” He compared the committee to investigations in communist China and other tyrannies, and vowed that Republicans would end the committee if and when they take control of the House.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.