According to recently discovered audio of the conversation, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy claimed that former President Donald Trump was unaware that his supporters were responsible for the attack to two police officers who helped defend the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the mother of a third who died after the riot.
According to testimony given on January 6 to the House Select Committee, Trump spent hours watching television while the rioters fought viciously with law officers.
McCarthy, though, insisted that when he spoke with Trump on the phone that afternoon, Trump was unaware of the violence taking place inside the Capitol. According to one of the attendees at the meetings, then-DC Metropolitan police officer Michael Fanone, he also seemed to claim responsibility for getting the then-President to issue a late-afternoon public statement advising his supporters to “go home.”
McCarthy said during the June 2021 meeting regarding Trump’s knowledge of the fighting, “I’m just telling you from my phone call, I don’t know that he did know that,” according to audio secretly recorded by Fanone at the time and described in his new book titled, “Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop’s Battle for America’s Soul.”
It is acceptable for one person to record another without consent in the District because it is a single-party consent jurisdiction for recordings. McCarthy’s office has been contacted by AWN for comment.
The discussion took place at a time when some House Republicans were attempting to minimise or misrepresent the events that occurred on January 6, when a violent pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol and killed several people.
McCarthy was also “backing off on a vow to appoint Republicans to the special January 6 Committee” at the time, according to Fanone, who also notes that “the only reason McCarthy had consented to meet with us was because he’d been getting pressure for refusing to see me.”
Despite McCarthy’s remarks in the meeting, Fanone claimed Monday morning that he wasn’t surprised by them since he “saw how he had veered from his original views shortly after January 6 to seize upon the politics of the time.”
But I’m happy I captured it. That’s why I recorded it, he said, “because I didn’t expect Kevin McCarthy to, number one, tell the truth; number two, recount the conversation accurately; and number three, I wanted to show people how indifferent lawmakers are to the actual American people that they are representing, not just Republican lawmakers, but all lawmakers,” he said on “New Day” with AWN’s Brianna Keilar.
McCarthy’s hesitation to denounce Trump may be heard on the audio.
The newly released audio emphasises how quickly Trump regained control of the Republican Party following the January 6 attack despite an initial groundswell of bipartisan outrage over his refusal to denounce the violence as it was happening, even though some details of the meeting were reported on the day it took place.
According to previously disclosed audio of a private conversation between the House minority leader and other Republican lawmakers, McCarthy himself claimed he thought about asking Trump to resign in the immediate wake of the incident.
Before McCarthy finally consented, according to his new book, Fanone made multiple attempts to meet with the California Republican to discuss the uprising. During the melee, Fanone was repeatedly stun-gunned and clubbed with a flagpole.
McCarthy and other Republicans had mainly blocked efforts to look into the circumstances behind the uprising, which drew harsh condemnation from Fanone and other present-day police officers.
The mother of late Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and US Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn were also present during the meeting with McCarthy, and all three pressured McCarthy repeatedly to acknowledge Trump’s role in instigating the attack, according to the recording. A day after the riot, Sicknick passed away after having numerous strokes.
Gladys Sicknick, his mother, was the one who initially disputed McCarthy’s assertion regarding what Trump knew and when he knew it.
According to the tape obtained by AWN, she remarked of Trump, “He already knew what was going on.” For hours and hours and hours, people fought. I don’t get this at all.
When McCarthy defended Trump later in the meeting, Fanone addressed the Republican leader, saying, “While you were on the phone with him, I was getting the shit knocked out of me.”
“I questioned McCarthy as to why he would claim responsibility for Trump’s pitiful, clumsy late-afternoon video speech to his supporters. Trump tells his supporters, “This is what happens when you steal an election,” I responded. Head home. I cherish you. Exactly what is that? That came from the American president,” writes Fanone in his book.
According to Fanone’s account in his memoir, all three pushed McCarthy to launch a thorough “insurrection investigation,” denounce the 21 members of his own party who had earlier that month voted against giving the Congressional Gold Medal to officers who protected the Capitol, and apologise to them.
According to Fanone in his book, “I told McCarthy I felt deceived by the way certain Republicans were turning a riotous assault on law enforcement officers into a fundraising grift.”
“I murmured, “It’s rubbish. He continues, recalling his remarks from the meeting and stating, “It’s awful,'” adding that “McCarthy made no reaction.”
McCarthy responded when asked by AWN if he would address the committee about his contact with Trump on January 6 prior to his meeting with Fanone that he had “no difficulty talking to anybody about” the conversation.
During the uprising, Fanone experienced a heart attack, a concussion, a traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder.