The time for former president Trump to advise the House minority leader that it would be better to participate and shape the direction of the committee than to bank on sullying the panel in the public mind was a year ago. Plainly, Trump is smoldering now because his strategy — not that of his factotum, McCarthy — was dumb: The committee is hammering the former president on national television, in scripted, slickly produced, tightly thematic performances, because there is no Republican counterpoint.
But it didn’t just become obvious that the decision to boycott the committee was witless; it was obvious at the time. As for McCarthy, the likelihood is that he will end up cooperating with the committee anyway . . . as a witness. He has been subpoenaed to testify about a heated conversation during the riot, in which McCarthy implored Trump to call on the rioters to stand down and Trump responded by rebuking the minority leader, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.” Like Jordan and other congressional Republicans with information relevant to the committee investigation, McCarthy has indicated that he will resist. We’ll see how firm he is about this if the committee threatens a contempt citation or asks a court to rule that his non-compliance is illegal.
Meanwhile, what has McCarthy’s servility gotten him? In yet more classic Trump, the former president is not only blaming McCarthy for his own miscalculation; he is admonishing his supporters that he has not endorsed McCarthy to become speaker if Republicans retake the House in the midterms.
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