House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Wednesday turned down a request for an interview with the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, calling the panel "illegitimate" and accusing it of "abuse of power." The committee earlier in the day sent McCarthy a request for an interview about his communication with then-President Donald Trump and his White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, during and after the insurrection. "You have acknowledged speaking directly with the former president while the violence was underway on Jan. 6," the panel's chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), wrote in the letter. Thompson said McCarthy also reportedly talked with Trump after the mob stormed the Capitol seeking to prevent lawmakers from certifying President Biden's election victory.
U.S. inflation rose to an annual rate of 7 percent last year, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The jump in the consumer price index in December, compared to a year earlier, was the fastest since 1982. It was the third straight month with an annual inflation rate above 6 percent. Pandemic-related supply problems contributed to the slight increase from November's 6.8 percent pace. The core price index, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose by 5.5 percent in December compared to a year earlier, the fastest since 1991. "While inflation is likely to peak in the next few months, the...
By JAMELLE BOUIE Donald Trump knew as well as anyone that he had lost the 2020 presidential election fair and square. He knew there was no conspiracy to commit voter fraud β no mysterious mail bal...