McCarthy ‘Shocked’ Over Cheney’s Role In New Capitol Riot Investigation

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was “shocked” to hear that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) had accepted an invitation from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) to join a new committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Cheney is said she is “honored” to be selected for the panel.

“I was shocked that she would accept something from Speaker Pelosi,” McCarthy said on Thursday. “It would seem to me, since I didn’t hear from her, maybe she’s closer to [Pelosi] than us. I don’t know.”

Cheney has repeatedly spoken out against former President Donald Trump‘s conspiracy theories about election fraud and has blamed the business mogul for inciting the insurrection among his die-hard supporters.

McCarthy believes this makes Cheney an outsider in the GOP. “I don’t know in history where someone would go get their committee assignments from the Speaker and expect to have them from the conference as well,” he said.

McCarthy repeatedly deflected blame from Trump for the insurrection. “There’s so many failures along that way that happened the days before that allowed individuals to get into the building,” he said.

Cheney released a statement on Thursday, in which she affirmed her support of Pelosi’s new committee. “What happened on January 6th can never happen again,” Cheyney said. “Those who are responsible for the attack need to be held accountable and this select committee will fulfill that responsibility in a professional, expeditious, and non-partisan manner.”