Giving Trump's Republican insurrectionists a “get out of jail free” card may be what got some of them to finally allow Kevin McCarthy to take the gavel as House Speaker. From Politico: Proposed GOP select panel would be empowered to review ‘ongoing criminal investigations’:
A proposed subcommittee to investigate “weaponization” of the federal government — a key demand of House conservatives who delivered Speaker Kevin McCarthy the gavel — would be given sweeping investigatory powers that include explicit authority to review “ongoing criminal investigations.” The language of the proposed “select subcommittee,” which would operate under the Judiciary Committee expected to be chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), also gives the panel power to access any information shared with the House Intelligence Committee. That panel typically receives the highest-level classified intelligence and briefings of any committee in Congress. [...]
The panel’s expected formation comes as the Justice Department continues to arrest and prosecute hundreds of rioters charged with breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and amid two ongoing criminal investigations connected to former President Donald Trump. Those include the probe of his effort to overturn the 2020 election and his decision to warehouse highly sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office.
Both Trump-related probes are now overseen by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November to manage the sensitive grand jury investigations.
Here's more from Emptywheel on Twitter:
A Jim Jordan drafted document allowing for the interference into ongoing criminal investigations is what got Scott Perry, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, and Andy Biggs -- all of whom sought pardons -- to allow McCarthy to get a gavel. https://t.co/XHCceao2PV
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) January 7, 2023
It would be nice to see some follow up from our corporate media, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for any of them to hold McCarthy accountable for this.
