The No. 2 Republican in the House denied being the one who leaked a tape of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy telling GOP colleagues he would urge former President Donald Trump to resign days after the Capitol riot.
Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House minority whip, distanced himself from the burgeoning controversy that is threatening McCarthy’s chances of becoming the next speaker.
“Millions of American are suffering right now under President Biden and Speaker Pelosi’s big-government socialist agenda that has given us record-high inflation, with skyrocketing gas prices and a border crisis, yet the only thing the Democrat media continues to obsess over is Jan. 6,” Lauren Fine, the spokeswoman for Scalise, told Fox News.
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“Whip Scalise’s sole focus is on working with his colleagues to stop the radical Democrat agenda,” she added. “Neither he nor anyone on his team recorded or leaked private conversations among members.”
The audio was released on MSNBC Thursday night following reporting about the episode that appeared in the New York Times on Thursday morning via an excerpt of This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future by Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, two reporters with the outlet. “I’m seriously thinking of having that conversation with him tonight. I haven’t talked to him in a couple of days … The only discussion I would have with him is that I think this [impeachment resolution] will pass and it would be my recommendation you should resign,” McCarthy said in the call on Jan. 10, 2021. Trump ended up leaving office at the end of his term 10 days later.
McCarthy denied the report as written, calling it “totally false and wrong.” The California Republican also criticized the reporters, claimed they used “politically motivated sources,” and said: “It comes as no surprise that the corporate media is obsessed with doing everything it can to further a liberal agenda.” McCarthy, a California Republican, has yet to comment since the release of the tape, which conflicts with his statement. McCarthy spoke with Trump on Thursday night, a source told CNN.
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Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wisconsin Republican, and Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the chairman of the party’s House campaign committee, also participated in the call, according to the report. Cheney denied she recorded or leaked it. “The select committee has asked Kevin McCarthy to speak with us about these events, but he has so far declined,” Cheney’s spokesperson said Friday, referring to the Jan. 6 committee. “Rep. Cheney did not record or leak the tape and does not know how the reporters got it.”
The tape controversy is playing out months ahead of the midterm elections, in which Republicans were expected to win back control of the House. The speaker is elected by members at the beginning of a new Congress. The next session begins in early January 2023.
