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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is under pressure, especially after recordings of his private comments about Donald Trump came to light and the ongoing Jan. 6 probe. According to Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, McCarthy has to continue lying in order to remain among the GOP leaders.
Speaking with Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC Friday last week, Schiff said that McCarthy lying is not surprising, including to their colleagues on Capitol Hill. Schiff said that McCarthy appears to be stuck in a position where he must submit to Trump and continue to lie if he wants to keep his position as the leader of the House GOP caucus.
This follows the reports of McCarthy privately lying to his caucus after the Jan. 6 riots. McCarthy attempted to deny making such comments, only for reporters to release recordings of the comments he made.
“Listening to those tapes of McConnell and McCarthy in private expressing what we all felt about the unfitness of the former president, and to see now how they have completely caved into the immorality of the former president, it just takes your breath away,” said Schiff, who also serves on the congressional committee probing the insurrection.
“What is scandalous about Kevin McCarthy for example, lying to the New York Times about the conversations about Jan. 6 is not the lying. Anyone who knows McCarthy isn’t particularly surprised by that. The scandal is that if he didn’t lie, if he doesn’t lie – if he doesn’t continue to lie he can’t serve in the Republican leadership, that’s the terrible tragedy,” said Schiff.
McCarthy was previously among the several sitting Republican lawmakers who have been issued a subpoena by the Jan. 6 committee to testify before the panel. According to CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, McCarthy does not have any choice but to comply with the subpoena.
Toobin explained that the House GOP leader has publicly revealed that he spoke with Trump as the insurrection took place as a reason why McCarthy has very little defense against the subpoena. In a legal sense, Toobin explained, McCarthy is on the “least solid ground” of all the lawmakers who are objecting to the subpoenas issued to them.
