CBS Evening News: McCarthy said Trump admitted to bearing "some responsibility" for January 6 attack, audio reveals
By Scott MacFarlane
Days after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told fellow House Republicans that then-President Donald Trump had acknowledged bearing some blame for the deadly attack, according to newly released audio.
"He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. And he needs to acknowledge that," McCarthy said in the private conference call between Republican lawmakers.
But earlier this year, McCarthy told reporters that he didn't remember having that phone call.
"I'm not sure what call you're talking about," the top House Republican said in a news conference on January 13.
Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, New York Times reporters and authors of the forthcoming book, "This Will Not Pass," have released a series of clips of McCarthy's phone calls with fellow Republicans from the days after the insurrection.