Republicans tell McCarthy to remove Cheney, Kinzinger from House GOP conference [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• More than 40 conservative leaders called on Rep. Kevin McCarthy to remove Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger from the House GOP conference.
• Trump allies wrote a letter to the House Minority Leader, citing the duo’s “egregious actions” as members of the January 6 committee.
• The signees also say they’re “launching a nationwide movement” for Cheney and Kinzinger’s removal.

More than 40 conservative figures sent a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday urging him to remove Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney from the House GOP conference.

The group, which includes a number of Trump allies, said the two Republicans should be booted from the House conference “due to their egregious actions” as members of the Jan. 6 select committee.

“As you are aware, this committee has no formal representation from Republicans. Both Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger serve at the request of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.),” the conservatives wrote. 

“As part of Pelosi’s team, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger have deliberately sought to undermine the privacy and due process of their fellow Republicans, and those of private citizens, with improperly issued subpoenas and other investigatory tactics designed not to pursue any valid legislative end, but merely to exploit for the sake of political harassment and demagoguery,” they added.

The signees include former Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese III, American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp, Citizens United President David Bossie, Club for Growth President David McIntosh and Conservative Partnership Institute chairman Jim DeMint.

The group said the House lawmakers could continue to serve in Congress, given they are elected members, but they urged McCarthy not to allow them to serve under the House Republican banner.

“We ask that the GOP conference meet immediately to vote on stripping Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger from their membership in the GOP conference,” they said. “We further inform you that conservative leaders are launching a nationwide movement to add citizens voices to this effort.”

A spokesperson for Kinzinger blasted the letter.

“It’s sad but not surprising that politicians who push conspiracy theories to their constituents and outright lie for their own personal gain are threatened by Congressman Kinzinger, a truth-seeking Member of Congress who respects the institution he serves, the people he represents, and the oath he took to defend and protect the U.S. Constitution,” Kinzinger spokeswoman Maura Gillespie said in a statement to The Hill.

The letter to McCarthy comes a day after the House voted to hold former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in criminal contempt for failing to cooperate with a subpoena issued by the Jan. 6 select committee. 

Cheney and Kinzinger were the only two Republicans to vote alongside Democrats in holding Meadows in contempt. More than 9,000 pieces of correspondence, including text messages and emails, have been turned over by Meadows. 

Source: The Hill