Kinzinger supports Jan. 6 panel subpoenas for Republicans, including McCarthy

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), one of the two GOP members on the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said on Sunday that he would support subpoenaing anyone to appear before the panel who can shed light on what former President Trump was doing during the rioti, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

“I would support subpoenas to anybody that can shed light on that. If that’s the leader, that’s the leader,” Kinzinger told host Jonathan Karl on ABC’s “This Week” when asked if he would support subpoenaing McCarthy and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), both of whom spoke to Trump when the rioters were descending on the Capitol.

“If it’s anybody that talked to the president, they can provide us that information. I want to know what the president was doing every moment of that day after he said, ‘I’m going to walk with you to the Capitol,’ after [Rep.] Mo Brooks [R-Ala.] stood up and said, ‘We’re going to kick backside and take names. Today’s the day that … patriots take their country back from other people,'” Kinzinger said. 

“I want to know what they were doing because that’s going to be important,” he added.

The select committee probing the insurrection held its first hearing last week, during which four police officers testified about their harrowing experiences protecting the Capitol amid the attack.

Kinzinger and Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) are the only two Republicans on the panel. Both were appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

McCarthy had tapped five GOP lawmakers to sit on the committee but ultimately withdrew his nominations after Pelosi rejected two of them because of previous statements they made.

Kinzinger on Sunday would not reveal who the committee plans to subpoena when asked by Karl, but he did say he would “expect to see a significant number of subpoenas for a lot of people.”

“The truth needs to be out there for even those folks’ kids to know in the future, so it’s gonna be a thorough investigation,” he added.

Kinzinger also said he is interested in finding out if Trump called for the National Guard to help at the Capitol during the attack and why the reinforcements took five hours to arrive at the building.

“This is stuff that we can’t, you know, sweep under the rug of ‘That was a whole seven months ago, you know, history’ that some people are trying to do because it’s politically inconvenient,” Kinzinger said.

“If anybody’s scared of this investigation, I ask you one question: ‘What are you afraid of?’ I mean, either you’re afraid of being discovered of having some culpability in it, or, you know, what? If you think it wasn’t a big deal, then you should allow this to go forward,” he added.

The Republican congressman said it is “essential for history, for the American people, for truth, that we get to the bottom of this,” adding, “I think anybody with parts of that information, with inside knowledge, can probably expect to be talking to the committee.”