WASHINGTON ― House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would not answer questions about a meeting last week with the mother of a woman killed in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
McCarthy met in the office on Monday with Micki Witthoeft, the mother of the Capitol rioter who killed Ashli Babbitt, who was taken by Capitol Police officers when he tried to climb through the barricaded door inside the Capitol.
McCarthy refused to answer questions about last week’s meeting other than Witthoeft has been requested. On Tuesday, HuffPost asked the speaker if he could share anything about his conversation with Witthoeft, but he declined, saying, “Catch me later.” A spokesman for McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), one of McCarthy’s closest allies among the far-right House Republican conference, said in a hearing earlier this year that Babbitt was “killed” by the police. McCarthy disagreed, saying he believed the officer was “doing his job” when he shot Babbitt. It’s unclear if he still feels that way.
Witthoeft also declined to speak to HuffPost about the meeting with McCarthy. they to another reporter Last week was a good meeting and McCarthy was “happy.”
The meeting with Witthoeft was one way the House majority under McCarthy showed sympathy for the rioters while recasting the event as a legitimate protest against the results of the 2020 election.
McCarthy has handed over surveillance video from that day to Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and various House committees have launched investigations designed to counter the official narrative that former President Donald Trump terrorized supporters and sent them to the Capitol to disrupt congressional certification. of his 2020 losses.
An official investigation by the Justice Department and the Capitol Police cleared the officer of wrongdoing. “The actions of the officers in this case could have saved the Member’s life [of Congress] and staff from serious injury and possible death from the large number of rioters who forced their way into the US Capitol and House Chambers where Members and staff were away,” Capitol Police said in an August 2021 statement.
Witthoeft has attended several House hearings so far this year and maintained a vigil at the DC Jail, where around 20 Capitol rioters who were held for crimes were allegedly committed on January 6. Greene led a delegation to the jail last week, where he dubiously. claimed the rioters received worse treatment than other prisoners.