Jan. 6 committee refers 4 GOP congressmen to House Ethics Committee for sanctioning

In addition to making criminal referrals to the Justice Department for former President Trump and attorney John Eastman, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol referred four GOP members of Congress to the House Ethics Committee for sanctions for failing to comply with the select committee's subpoenas. 

Those four members are House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Andy Biggs, Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Scott Perry, all close allies of Trump.  

When Republicans take control of the House in January, McCarthy is running to be speaker, and Biggs intends to challenge McCarthy's chances. McCarthy has already said Republicans will launch a probe into how the select committee's conduct next year. 

A spokesperson for Jordan, who McCarthy had initially selected to be on the committee but was rejected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, called it a "partisan and political stunt." After Pelosi refused to seat Jordan and Rep. Jim Banks, McCarthy pulled all his picks from the committee. 

"This is just another partisan and political stunt made by a select committee that knowingly altered evidence, blocked minority representation on a committee for the first time in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives, and failed to respond to Mr. Jordan's numerous letters and concerns surrounding the politicization and legitimacy of the committee's work," said Jordan spokesman Russell Dye.

Biggs slammed the action in a statement on Monday – and he said the Republican-led Congress will set "the record straight." 

"An eleventh-hour referral to the House Ethics Committee proves the sham J6 Committee never truly needed our testimony," Biggs said in the statement. "They only wanted the testimony to have the ability to edit and misconstrue our statements to further their own false narratives, as they did with so many other witnesses."

Biggs claimed it is "inappropriate to use the House Ethics Committee" to "help reach the J6 Committee's pre-determined conclusions." He also accused the committee of having "defamed my name and character." 

The offices of McCarthy and Perry have not yet responded. 

But these referrals aren't likely to yield results by the House Ethics Committee, which will have a GOP chair next year although the House Ethics Committee is the only House committee that has an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. 

The select committee must wrap up its work by the end of the year. The committee expects to release their final report this week, ahead of the Christmas holiday. The committee on Monday released 17 findings from their nearly two-year investigation. 

— Rebecca Kaplan contributed to this report.