April 27, 2022 02:13 PM UTC

"Security Risk"--GOP Leadership Blasted Boebert Post-January 6th

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• by: Colorado Pols

Another round of shocking disclosures today in the New York Times from the authors of the forthcoming book This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future, revelations from which have upended intra-Republican politics by demonstrating the extent of division within Republican leadership in the immediate aftermath of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021 seeking to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential elections.

Houser Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s credibility was severely damaged in the first round of reporting about these discussions when his blanket denials were countered with audio proving the Times’ reporting was accurate. In that first story, it was also reported that McCarthy and his leadership team were not just angry with Donald Trump, but a number of fellow members of Congress who had helped incite the rioters leading up to and on the day of January 6th including Colorado’s GOP freshman tempest in a Teapot Dome Rep. Lauren Boebert.

Today, the Times has more details from those discussions–and Boebert can’t possibly be happy:

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 country was “too crazy,” Mr. McCarthy said, for members to be talking and tweeting recklessly at such a volatile moment…

According to today’s story, Republican leadership went through a list of Republican members of Congress who had made statements in the leadup to January 6th that could be reasonably construed as inciting or at least morally supporting the violence that ensued that day. Since January of 2021, the only participant in these calls who has remained consistent about what happened is Rep. Liz Cheney–who as readers know was ousted from leadership just weeks after this phone call after McCarthy and most of the Republican Party went crawling back to Trump.

But on January 10th, it was Liz Cheney who called out Lauren Boebert by name, and no one disagreed:

On the leadership call, Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Scalise and others discussed several other lawmakers who had made provocative comments around Jan. 6, including Mr. Moore and Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas. Ms. Cheney, who was on the call, suggested Ms. Boebert was a security risk, pointing out that she had publicly tweeted about the sensitive movements of other lawmakers during the Jan. 6 evacuation. [Pols emphasis]

There’s been tremendous debate since January 6th, 2021 about whether Rep. Boebert’s Tweet in the midst of rioters storming the U.S. Capitol announcing that Speaker Nancy Pelosi had been removed from the House chambers was a deliberate attempt to provide intelligence to the rioters, or just an incredibly foolish but not malicious breach of operational security. During this call on January 10th, we can see that Boebert’s actions were being taken deadly seriously by Republican leaders with the trauma of the insurrection still fresh in everyone’s minds.

There are probably few people in this country who have been more personally burned by Rep. Lauren Boebert’s treacherous embrace of Trump’s assault on democracy than Rep. Cheney, who in 2020 hosted a fundraiser for Boebert and embraced her as an up-and-coming regional star. As for Boebert? She’s not available for comment to reporters, but she’s full of cryptic piss and vinegar on Twitter:

Americans: You tried to kill our democracy.
Boebert: #Actually, I tried to kill our republic. pic.twitter.com/1Q3Ba1KK7r

— Seth Masket (@smotus) April 27, 2022

If McCarthy does survive what should be these caucus-rending leadership-ending revelations, it’s because Boebert and the MAGA wing of the party have already won. McCarthy prostrated himself before Trump not long after he was caught on tape calling for Trump to resign, and then helped purge Rep. Cheney from leadership when Cheney wouldn’t go along. Nothing changed between January 6th and McCarthy’s subsequent about face except the will to oppose Trump within the GOP, even after the horror of insurrection inside the U.S. Capitol, simply evaporated.

Except for the audio, folks. Audio is forever.