House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called for a “Church-style investigation” into past abuses performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
McCarthy vowed to enable a “Church-style investigation” into the agencies that allegedly became a “political arm” to Twitter, Facebook and other Big Tech platforms in connection to the Hunter Biden laptop story.
The phrase “Church-style” refers the U.S. Senate’s Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, which was formed in 1975 to investigate suspected abuses by the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency (NSA) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and was chaired by Democratic Sen. Frank Church of Idaho.
McCarthy is slated to replace Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when Republicans take over the chamber in January.
“It raises more questions than just Twitter, now that Elon Musk has brought that forward,” McCarthy told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Monday. “What about Facebook? What about Google? What about the 51 intel individuals like [former Director of National Intelligence James] Clapper, [former CIA Director John] Brennan and [former NSA and CIA Director Michael] Hayden, former CIA directors who put their name on a letter saying that Hunter Biden’s laptop was false, that it was Russia. Who asked them to sign this letter? Do these people still have clearances? We’re gonna subpoena them as well.”
“Why are they able to do this?” McCarthy continued. “Working together, using private businesses to go after individuals right before an election, denying the American public the truth. We’ve got to get to the very bottom, and I think just subpoenas are starting, but you’re almost going to have to have a Church-style investigation to reform the FBI, the more that we are learning.”
Over 50 former senior intelligence officials alleged in an Oct. 19, 2020, letter that the New York Post’s report surrounding Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop had the “classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” By Oct. 29, 2020, the Daily Caller News Foundation had successfully authenticated the contents of the laptop.
McCarthy said he will appoint former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe to assist in the “Church-style” commission’s investigation surrounding whistleblowers’ allegations of bias within their agencies.
“[Ratcliffe] is ideal, and we’ve worked very closely,” the minority leader said. “For your viewers, you’ve listened to John Ratcliffe, early on, talk about the different things that he was fearful of them doing. He is a former FBI, he is a former prosecutor, U.S. attorney, he’s a former congressman, and he was [DNI] as well. So he is the key individual that will work with us in many avenues to help solve this problem and correct it once and for all.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: McCarthy Plans Training Sessions For House GOP Staffers As Party Preps Investigations Into Biden Admin)
Ratcliffe never worked for the FBI.
McCarthy further criticized members of his own party for voting against his speakership bid since current and former intelligence officials cannot be subpoenaed until a speaker is elected. Thirty-one House Republicans voted against McCarthy in favor of Republican Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs in a Nov. 15 vote.
“Unfortunately, we’re getting delayed by a few members in our own conference to start on that very first day, because no subpoena can go out until you elect the speaker, until you populate the committees, until you get to work. And we’ve got a lot of work that we’ve done already that is actually on hold while we still have this question lingering,” he said.
House Republicans launched an investigation in November to seek information about President Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in his son’s overseas business dealings with Ukrainian energy company Burisma and Chinese energy company China CEFC Energy. Republican Reps. James Comer of Kentucky and Jim Jordan of Ohio cited anonymous whistleblowers who alleged that the president was “chairman of the board” and oversaw his son’s business activities.