Leaked audio shows Kevin McCarthy singled out Mo Brooks and Matt Gaetz for 'endangering the security of lawmakers'

Two Republicans in Congress were identified by House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as creating a security threat for other lawmakers with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

"Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, feared in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack that several far-right members of Congress would incite violence against other lawmakers, identifying several by name as security risks in private conversations with party leaders," Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin reported for The New York Times. "Mr. McCarthy’s remarks represent one of the starkest acknowledgments from a Republican leader that the party’s rank-and-file lawmakers played a role in stoking violence on Jan. 6, 2021 — and posed a threat in the days after the Capitol attack."

The two are the co-authors of the forthcoming book This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future. Excerpts from the book have provided bombshell details on Trump's coup attempt, and the two can back up their reporting with audio recordings.

"In the phone call with other Republican leaders on Jan. 10, Mr. McCarthy referred chiefly to two representatives, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Mo Brooks of Alabama, as endangering the security of other lawmakers and the Capitol complex. But he and his allies discussed several other representatives who made comments they saw as offensive or dangerous, including Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Barry Moore of Alabama," the two reported. "Mr. Brooks and Mr. Gaetz were the prime offenders in the eyes of G.O.P. leaders."

The two also report Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana (R-LA), the House GOP Whip, worried Gaetz was breaking the law.

“It’s potentially illegal what he’s doing,” Scalise said.

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