McCarthy instructs Jan. 6 committee to preserve documents ahead of GOP House takeover

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is demanding that Democrats in charge of the Jan. 6 committee preserve all records and transcripts from its investigation into the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

In a letter sent to committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., McCarthy pointedly wrote that the Jan. 6 investigation's work will end once Republicans take over the House of Representatives in January and reminded the chairman that all documents related to the investigation must be preserved "for transparency." 

"You have spent a year and a half and millions of taxpayers' dollars conducting this investigation. It is imperative that all information be preserved not just for institutional prerogatives but for transparency to the American people," McCarthy wrote. "The official Congressional Records do not belong to you or any member, but to the American people, and they are owed all the information you gathered – not merely the information that comports with your political agenda." 

The letter was first reported by The Federalist. 

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy addresses an election night party in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 8, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Jan. 6 committee Chairman Bennie Thompson and Rep. Liz Cheney during a hearing on Oct. 13, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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The letter cites a Washington Post report in which 15 former and current committee staffers "expressed concerns that important findings unrelated to [former President] Trump will not become available to the American public." These staffers told the Post they were frustrated that Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., one of only two Republicans on the committee, is wielding large influence over the content of the investigation's final report and is pushing to cut out information not directly tied to former President Trump.

Read the letter:

McCarthy promised new hearings in the next Congress that will examine issues the Jan. 6 committee ignored, such as "why the Capitol complex was not secure on January 6, 2021." 

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Former President Trump after announcing a third run for president at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Nov. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

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"The American people have a right to know that the allegations you have made are supported by the facts and to be able to view the transcripts with an eye toward encouraged enforcement of 18 USC 1001," McCarthy wrote, referencing a federal statute that makes it illegal to give false statements to the government. 

Thompson told reporters Wednesday that transcripts of the more than 1,000 interviews conducted by the committee will be released alongside the final report sometime before Christmas Day. He said the report will be released digitally and that in some cases names of people who gave interviews would be omitted for security reasons, according to "pre-arranged agreement."