Kinzinger says McCarthy's threat to telecom companies amid Jan. 6 probe "really bad politics"

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) condemned House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) threats to tech companies that comply with records requests from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Driving the news: McCarthy warned telecom companies that “a Republican majority will not forget" if they comply, after the committee asked them to turn over the phone records of several hundred people, including members of Congress.

What they're saying: Asked if those comments were obstruction of the investigation, Kinzinger said, "obstruct, I don't know, but it's really bad politics, I think, to say the least.

• "Look, we as a committee, we have a right and we have the responsibility, and frankly, we have the legal authority to go through the process of requesting these kinds of things," he added.
• "And I think to turn around and make ominous talk to these telecom companies that, you know, when we take over it's going to be different or we'll have payback, that's not frankly the Republican Party I remember and the Republican Party I have joined.
• "If you have a problem with what the committee's doing, there is a process for your lawyers and your people to push back against it. But it's not to go on TV and tell, you know, these companies that they're going to regret it."