Audio Shows McCarthy Discussed Trump Removal, Report Says
(Bloomberg) -- House Republican Leader Kevin Mccarthy rejected as taking “too long” the process of invoking a constitutional amendment to remove then-President Donald Trump from office after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a previously released audio obtained by two New York Times reporters shows.
McCarthy's discussion of the 25th Amendment with fellow Republican leaders during a private call on Jan. 8, two days after the riot, was a focus Wednesday of a CNN report, which drew on a recording made public last month by the reporters, who are authors of “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future.”
McCarthy, who rarely criticized or clashed with Trump, was at the time wrestling with potential responses to the attack, and could be heard stating: “What the president did is atrocious and totally wrong,” comments previously reported on by the Times.
The 25th Amendment process would have required then-Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of the cabinet to vote to remove Trump from office if he were found unable to “discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
McCarthy ultimately can be heard saying, “That takes too long too. It could go back to the House, right?” and an aide tells him that is correct. “If the president were to submit a letter overruling the cabinet and the vice president, two-thirds vote in the House and the Senate to overrule the president. So it's kind of an armful.”
Earlier: McCarthy Rapid Response to Audio Shows Trump's GOP Stranglehold
Instead, McCarthy three days later, on Jan. 11, 2021, floated a list of potential responses that did not include the 25th Amendment -- but did include censure of Trump.
McCarthy's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday night.
Bloomberg News has previously reported that McCarthy in a Jan. 11 private conference call with rank-and-file House Republicans said Trump had acknowledged to him having some responsibility for the riot, according to people who were participants.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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