New York Times: McCarthy Feared G.O.P. Lawmakers Put ‘People in Jeopardy’ After Jan. 6
By Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin
Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, feared in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack that several far-right members of Congress would incite violence against other lawmakers, identifying several by name as security risks in private conversations with party leaders.
Audio recordings of the comments were obtained in reporting for a forthcoming book, “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future.”
Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican, suggested that Mr. Gaetz might be crossing a legal boundary.
“It’s potentially illegal what he’s doing,” Mr. Scalise said.
Speaking about rank-and-file lawmakers to his fellow leaders, Mr. McCarthy was sharply critical and suggested he was going to tell them to stop their inflammatory conduct.
“Our members have got to start paying attention to what they say, too, and you can’t put up with that,” he said, adding an expletive.