Jan 6 Committee Refers Four Republicans, Including Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan, to House Ethics Committee

The Jan. 6 select committee voted unanimously on Monday to refer Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and three other House Republicans to the Ethics Committee for refusing to comply with the panel’s subpoenas.

Introductory material for the final report of the committee charges McCarthy (R-CA) and Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Scott Perry (R-PA), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) with violating House rules requiring members to conduct themselves “at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.”

The lawmakers’ “willful failure” to comply with subpoenas “reflects discredit on Congress,” the report said, warning that not punishing them could undermine the power of congressional subpoenas in the future.

The committee’s report also calls for the four members, as well as House Republicans who attended a Dec. 21 meeting at the White House on schemes to overturn the 2020 election, to testify publicly.

A spokesman for Jordan, whom McCarthy had initially selected to be on the committee but was rejected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), called the outcome of the introductory report a “partisan and political stunt.”

“This is just another partisan and political stunt made by a select committee that knowingly altered evidence, blocked minority representation on a committee for the first time in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives, and failed to respond to Mr. Jordan’s numerous letters and concerns surrounding the politicization and legitimacy of the committee’s work,” said Russell Dye, a spokesman for Jordan.

Biggs said the referral was a politically motivated “stunt” and claimed that providing his testimony to the committee would have allowed it to “edit and misconstrue” his statements.

“An eleventh-hour referral to the House Ethics Committee proves the sham J6 Committee never truly needed our testimony,” he said in a statement.

The House Ethics Committee is split evenly along party lines. A majority vote is required to take action, meaning that the referrals aren’t likely to yield results because the committee will soon be led by House Republicans. Republicans on the panel could block consideration of the referral, both this year and next.

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The committee did not refer Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), who refused to comply with a subpoena but is leaving Congress in January.

The panel must wrap up its work by the end of the year. The committee expects to release its final report this week, ahead of the Christmas holiday.