The Jan. 6 committee made short but pointed attacks against several Republican lawmakers during Thursday night’s prime-time hearing.
The committee singled out House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) as it pieced together the events between former President Donald Trump’s speech at the White House Ellipse and his Twitter message telling protesters to go home. Committee Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-WY), who joined the investigation against McCarthy and House Republican leadership’s instructions, was “scared” and showed video of Hawley fleeing the protesters after initially expressing solidarity with them.
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED INTO DELETED SECRET SERVICE JAN. 6 TEXTS
McCarthy, who supported the House Republican Conference’s eviction of Cheney from her leadership position in May 2021 over continued criticism of Trump, was shown in video from the House floor a few days after the Jan. 6 riot saying that Trump should have taken “immediate action” to quell the attack. The committee later showed how McCarthy tried to get Trump to call the protesters off and had a heated discussion when Trump refused.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said this showed McCarthy was “scared and begging for help.”
Hawley initially raised his fist in solidarity with the protesters as they gathered near the Capitol. The committee, after showing this photograph, immediately cut to security footage of the senator fleeing from the mob, prompting laughter from those in the hearing room.
Wow Hawley fleeing the Capitol pic.twitter.com/bPfoYtro0V
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 22, 2022
Barbs against the Trump-aligned members of Congress have been present throughout this summer’s series of hearings, especially suggestions that some, including Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) asked for pardons.
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This hearing’s goal is to show that Trump actively refused to quell the mob for 187 minutes on the afternoon of Jan. 6.
