McCarthy wants to tap McConnell about Jan. 6 security failures

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday said that GOP members conducting a counter-investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack will seek information on the Capitol’s security posture that day from one of their own — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

The inquiry comes in addition to information Republicans are already seeking from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif).

Pelosi and McConnell, who was Senate majority leader on the day of the riot, each had authority over the House and Senate sergeants at arms, respectively — two members of the three-person Capitol Police Board, the governing authority over the police force that can approve National Guard assistance.

House Republicans have so far largely blamed Pelosi for the security failures of that day but have yet to tap into any role McConnell had.

That changed Thursday when McCarthy was asked directly whether Republicans will ask similar questions of McConnell that they have of Pelosi.

“Yes,” McCarthy responded.

“We’d like to get to the bottom of why this Capitol was so ill-prepared. There’s reports that — was offered National Guard as early as Jan. 2. We do not know why they weren’t here,” McCarthy said. “We’d like to know the bottom of why they weren’t here.”

Earlier in the press conference, which was aimed at counterprogramming Thursday night’s prime-time hearing of the House select committee investigating the riot, Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) ran through a list of questions that Republicans have about the Capitol attack and want the Jan. 6 committee to answer.

Those included questions about whether Pelosi communicated with the House sergeant at arms on Jan. 6 and the days leading up to the riot and whether Pelosi was involved in the decision to delay National Guard assistance on Jan. 6.  

McCarthy had originally selected Banks to be ranking member on the select committee, before Pelosi blocked his appointment. Banks is now leading a counter-investigation, at the direction of McCarthy, into the Capitol security posture and plans to release a report.

McCarthy did not provide an exact timeline for when that report is expected to be released, but said it will come out “soon.”