House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) both said Tuesday that if telecommunication companies agree to provide information to the Jan. 6 House Select Committee in response to requests or subpoenas from the committee, they would make it their mission to punish and even “shut down” those companies.

McCarthy issued a statement on the matter:

“If these companies comply with the Democrat order to turn over private information, they are in violation of federal law and subject to losing their ability to operate in the United States. If companies still choose to violate federal law, a Republican majority will not forget and will stand with Americans to hold them fully accountable under the law.”

McCarthy didn’t bother to name what federal laws the companies would be violating, probably because a valid subpoena from a congressional committee would stand up in any court of law.

Greene appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, telling the host:

“I think it’s outrageous.

“This is leading us into waters we’ve never been in an America. You see, America was never meant to be a communist country. But these are the tactics that Democrats are wanting to use.”

That led Carlson to reply:

“Well, yeah! I mean, demanding your text messages if they don’t like your politics? Now we’ve been tough on Kevin McCarthy for being weak. That statement is not weak. That statement is a flat out promise, threat, whatever you want to call it. If you do this, there are consequences.”

The Georgia Republican then issued a direct threat:

“These telecommunications companies, if they go along with this, they will be shut down. And that’s a promise.”

 

That led former federal prosecutor Ken White to call Greene’s threat “pure corrupt thuggery.”

Of course, the threats from McCarthy and Greene speak volumes about their culpability when it comes to any role they may have played in the Capitol insurrection. Innocent people want to cooperate and see all of the information come to light.

Guilty people, on the other hand, act exactly the way Kevin McCarthy and Marjorie Taylor Greene are acting. That alone makes both of them highly suspect.

Featured Image Via NBC News