According to Yahoo, the 45-page federal indictment against former President Donald Trump is a detailed account of his efforts to overturn the election, with one particular passage drawing attention and raising questions. The passage pertains to a phone call between Trump and Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican, which took place on January 6, 2021.
According to the indictment, at 3:00 p.m. on that fateful day, Trump had a phone call with McCarthy, during which he made a startling statement. He allegedly told McCarthy that the crowd at the Capitol was more upset about the election than even McCarthy himself was. This call occurred shortly after House and Senate members had evacuated their respective chambers, and rioters were still storming the Capitol. Trump’s apparent lack of immediate action during this chaotic time has drawn criticism and suspicion.
Former Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Republican from Washington, shed further light on the contents of this call about a month after the January 6 attack. Herrera Beutler claimed that McCarthy recounted the conversation to her, and it was highly damning. She asserted that Trump not only showed no remorse for the attack on the Capitol but also seemed to side with the attackers, suggesting that they were more passionate about the election than even the elected officials themselves.
What has sparked even more curiosity and concern is the absence of a clear source for this specific passage in the indictment. While Special Counsel Jack Smith might have based his description of the phone call on Herrera Beutler’s public account, it deviates from his typical practice of providing detailed sourcing for claims made in the indictment. The ambiguity surrounding the source of this information has given rise to speculation. Could there be a recording of the call? Perhaps Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who was rumored to be present during the call, provided an account to investigators? Or maybe McCarthy himself was involved in the process?
As of now, Mark Meadows has chosen to remain silent on the matter, declining to comment on the specifics of the phone call. Similarly, Kevin McCarthy has not offered any insight or clarification regarding the alleged conversation. Despite acknowledging Trump’s responsibility for the attack on the Capitol shortly after the event, McCarthy appears to have repaired his relationship with Trump and has obstructed any attempts at holding the former president accountable for his actions surrounding the insurrection.
In the wake of the indictment becoming public, McCarthy took to posting a statement about the Hunter Biden controversy, dismissing the indictment as the Department of Justice’s supposed attempt to divert attention and attack Trump, who was considered the frontrunner for the Republican nomination at the time.
