Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol on Wednesday issued a subpoena to House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.
In its letter to McCarthy, R-Calif., the committee said that he was reportedly in communication with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former President Donald Trump ahead of the events of Jan. 6. The panel said he allegedly advised them about plans to halt the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
"We also must learn about how the president's plan for January 6th came together, and all the other ways he attempted to alter the results of the election," Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., wrote. "For example, in advance of Jan. 6, you reportedly explained to Mark Meadows and the former president that objections to the certification of the electoral votes on January 6th 'was doomed to fail.'"
The House last month recommended contempt charges for Meadows after he refused to comply with the committee.
The panel notes that McCarthy "acknowledged speaking directly with" Trump while the riots were underway and said the Republican leader may have information about Trump's "state of mind and decisions" in the aftermath of Jan. 6.
"It appears that you had one or more conversations with the president during this period, including a conversation on or about January 11th ... It appears that you may have also discussed with President Trump the potential he would face a censure resolution, impeachment, or removal under the 25th amendment," Thompson wrote. "It also appears that you may have identified other possible options, including President Trump's immediate resignation from office."
Thompson also cited reports of a "very heated conversation" between McCarthy and Trump in which he "urged the president to 'get help' to the Capitol."
Earlier this month, Thompson said the committee received "significant testimony that leads us to believe that the White House had been told to do something," to quell the rioters.
McCarthy is the third sitting Republican lawmaker subpoenaed by the committee along with Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Jim Jordan of Ohio.
Both Perry and Jordan have said they will not voluntarily cooperate with the committee's investigation.
McCarthy was originally supposed to select five Republicans to serve on the committee but withdrew all of his choices after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vetoed the nominations of Jordan and Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind.
He referenced the decision in a statement Wednesday night, calling the committee "illegitimate," accusing it of seeking to "damage its political opponents" rather than investigate the events of Jan. 6 and adding he will not cooperate with the requests.
"The committee has demanded testimony from staffers who applied for First Amendment permits. It has subpoenaed the call records of private citizens and their financial records from banks while demanding secrecy not supported by law. It has lied about the contents of documents it has received. It has held individuals in contempt of Congress for exercising their Constitutional right to avail themselves of judicial proceedings. And now it wants to interview me about public statements that have been shared with the world, and private conversations not remotely related to the violence that unfolded at the Capitol. I have nothing else to add," McCarthy said.