GOP leader McCarthy says he won’t cooperate with 1/6 panel

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is refusing a request by the House panel investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection to submit to an interview and turn over records pertaining to the deadly riot.

The panel is seeking first-hand details from members of Congress on then-President Donald Trump’s actions on the day hundreds of his supporters brutally beat police, stormed the building and interrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

McCarthy, R-Calif., issued a statement Wednesday refusing to cooperate with the House committee. He said the investigation was not legitimate and accused the panel of “abuse of power.”

He told Fox News Channel on Thursday that he had nothing to add beyond his media interviews after the riot. He claimed some committee members want “to deny me ever the chance to be speaker,” if Republicans retake the House in the 2022 midterm elections.

Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democratic chairman of the panel, requested that McCarthy provide information to the nine-member panel about his conversations with Trump “before, during and after” the riot. The request also seeks information about McCarthy’s communications with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the days before the attack.