(CNN) — In the days after storming the capitol On January 6, 2021, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Republican lawmakers in a private conference call that then-President Donald Trump had admitted some responsibility for the deadly attack, according to a new report. audio, a significant admission that sheds light on Trump’s mindset in the immediate aftermath of the US Capitol riots.
A reading of that conversation, which took place on January 11, 2021, had been previously informed by CNN. But two reporters from The New York Times obtained an audio recording of the conference call for his upcoming book, “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future,” and shared it with CNN.
“But let me be very clear with you and I have been very clear with the president. He is accountable for his words and actions. There are no buts,” McCarthy told House Republicans on Jan. 11, 2021. , according to audio obtained by CNN. “Today I asked him personally, does he feel responsible for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened? He has told me that he does have some responsibility for what happened. And he has to admit it.”
In another call the day before, McCarthy said, “I’m sick of this guy. What he did is unacceptable. No one can defend him, and no one should defend him.” The book’s authors say those comments were in reference to Trump.
CNN has contacted McCarthy for comment.
Reporters for The New York Times also revealed another explosive recording this week, in which McCarthy is heard telling other House Republican leaders in the days after Jan. 6 that he planned to advise Trump to resign.
McCarthy and his advisers had vehemently denied that information before the audio leaked.
A member of the GOP leadership who called McCarthy this morning to discuss the audio file revealed by The New York Times on Thursday night said they were not under the impression that McCarthy is concerned that the recorded comments or disclosures could damage his political future significantly. The member told CNN that McCarthy told them that Trump called McCarthy Thursday night to discuss this and that there is a sense that as long as Trump is okay, McCarthy can handle any outrage from those who side with him.
The member stressed that it is difficult to argue that McCarthy is not Trumpist enough if Trump continues to support him.
“He doesn’t seem to be worried,” the member said of McCarthy. “He understands that it needs to be addressed, but I don’t get the feeling he’s worried about it.”
The source also defended McCarthy, telling CNN that in the days after January 6 there was a fog about what would happen next. The member said there was a lot of talk about Republican senators backing Trump’s impeachment and his view was that McCarthy’s consideration of asking Trump to resign stemmed from an attempt by McCarthy to shield Trump from the disgrace of impeachment.
“My reading from listening to that audio is that McCarthy had some information that some high-level senators were contemplating putting the president on trial … we were basically going through different options of what could happen,” the person said.
McCarthy has refused to cooperate with the Jan. 6 House committee, which wants to question him about his communications with Trump, White House staff and others in the week after the assault. McCarthy has said that he has nothing relevant to offer the panel, since he has already publicly revealed that he had a phone call with Trump on January 6.
McCarthy made similar public comments in a local radio interview inconspicuous a week after the insurrection, which CNN reported earlier this year.
“I say he has responsibility,” McCarthy said on KERN, a local radio station in Bakersfield, California, on Jan. 12 last year. “He told me personally that he does have some responsibility. I think a lot of people do.”
Earlier this year, McCarthy dodged a question during a news conference on whether he recalls telling House Republicans that Trump took responsibility for the Capitol riots.
To date, Trump has never publicly accepted any responsibility for the attack. Trump’s state of mind, and whether he has privately admitted any guilt in the assault, has been of great interest to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on Capitol Hill.
The select committee also wants to know why McCarthy has since changed his tune about Trump, and whether Trump or any of his associates asked McCarthy to change his mind about the president’s role in the attack and their private conversations.
— CNN’s Lauren Fox contributed to this report.