Kevin McCarthy Dismisses 1/6 Committee Subpoena as ‘Invalid’ Ahead of House Vote on Bannon Criminal Contempt

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy downplayed Steve Bannon defying a congressional subpoena, telling reporters Thursday it was “invalid” anyway.

The House is set to vote on holding Steve Bannon in criminal contempt for defying the subpoena issued by the January 6 select committee. Bannon is one of many Trump allies they want to hear from.

“Issuing an invalid subpoena weakens our power, not if somebody votes against it,” McCarthy said.

“He has the right to go to the court to see if he has executive privilege or not. I don’t know if he does or not, but neither does the committee. So they’re weakening the power of Congress itself by issuing invalid subpoenas,” he continued.

Pressed on what exactly makes it invalid, McCarthy said, “It was a select committee, for the first time in the history of Congress, that the minority was not able to participate in.”

McCarthy proposed five Republicans for the committee back in July. Speaker Nancy Pelosi approved three of them, but rejected Jim Jordan and Jim Banks. So McCarthy pulled all of his picks in retaliation.

Pelosi later named Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger to the committee.

McCarthy criticized Donald Trump in the wake of January 6th, but has firmly remained on Trump’s side. Given that McCarthy spoke with Trump on January 6, he could potentially face a subpoena — a move both Cheney and Kinzinger are open to.

You can watch above, via C-SPAN.