Kayleigh McEnany, a longtime associate of former President Donald Trump who was serving as White House press secretary when the Trump administration drew to a close, has now reportedly spoken to the House committee investigating the Capitol riot, adding yet another high-profile name onto the list of people who’ve testified amid Trump’s own frenzied efforts to block the probe. McEnany’s other roles in Trump’s orbit included serving as a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, and alongside a subpoena from the riot panel for the ex-official that was issued last November, investigators referenced issues including her repeated promotions of false claims of fraud surrounding the 2020 election.
It does seem reasonable to wonder what McCarthy’s reaction would have been had Hillary Clinton refused to testify in the House Benghazi probe even though she considered it illegitimate and an abuse of power.
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) January 13, 2022
At that same point last November, a press release from the riot investigation committee also noted that McEnany “was reportedly present at times with the former President as he watched the January 6th attack.” Separately, the committee is pursuing records from the Trump administration including items related to McEnany’s work as press secretary. The panel has been after materials including “629 pages from multiple binders containing proposed talking points for the Press Secretary, interspersed with a relatively small number of related statements and documents, principally relating to allegations of voter fraud, election security, and other topics concerning the 2020 election,” although at one point recently, the panel dropped requests for certain documents out of concerns that disclosing them could threaten national security.
Flashback: May 20, 2021
Q: Would you be willing to testify about your conversation with Donald Trump on Jan. 6 if you were asked by an outside committee?
KEVIN McCARTHY: Sure.— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 13, 2022
It’s not immediately clear what exactly that McEnany may have spoken about with the committee. Investigators have made their intention to find the truth clear with repeated approvals of contempt findings targeting non-compliant witnesses, and this documented willingness to recommend certain individuals to the Justice Department for prosecution could have helped spur McEnany and others to testify. This week, the committee also requested information from House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), although they didn’t issue a subpoena — yet. McCarthy promptly insisted that he did not intend to comply with the committee’s requests, complaining that House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “took the unprecedented action of rejecting the Republican members I named to serve on the committee” — although she only rejected part of his selections, not all of them.
Jan. 6 Committee chairman Bennie Thompson tells NBC News the panel will "consider" a subpoena for Kevin McCarthy if he does not voluntarily submit to an interview. @NBCNews
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 13, 2022
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the vice chair of the riot investigation committee, did not rule out a subpoena for McCarthy in the aftermath of his petulant refusal to provide information, according to new reporting from CNN. Cheney added that she wishes that McCarthy “were a brave and honorable man,” observing: “He’s clearly trying to cover up what happened. He has an obligation to come forward, and we’ll get to the truth.”
Liz Cheney doesn’t rule out issuing a Jan. 6 subpoena to Kevin McCarthy, and tells @morgan_rimmer: “I wish that he were a brave and honorable man. He's clearly trying to cover up what happened. He has an obligation to come forward, and we'll get to the truth.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 13, 2022
