The controversy surrounding Biggs, R-Ariz., comes as he is makes a longshot bid to become House speaker.
By Ronald J. Hansen || The Arizona Republic
Rep. Andy Biggs was among four Republican members of Congress referred Monday to the House Ethics Committee for failing to comply with a subpoena from the panel that investigated the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The move means that Biggs, R-Ariz., could face investigation by the bipartisan ethics committee and comes as he has thrown into disarray the battle for the House speakership with another member referred to the ethics committee, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Biggs had no immediate reaction to the move, which came at the end of the final scheduled public meeting of the Democrat-led, bipartisan select committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. The panel also made a historic criminal referral to the U.S. Justice Department of potential crimes involving former President Donald Trump stemming from the insurrection.
In May, the select committee subpoenaed Biggs, along with McCarthy and Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania. None complied with the request, which sought information relating to “meetings at the White House, those who had direct conversations with President Trump leading up to and during the attack, and those who were involved in the planning and coordination of certain activities on and before Jan. 6,” according to the committee.
Before issuing the subpoena, the panel asked Biggs in a letter that was shared publicly to meet with it about a Dec. 21, 2020, meeting at the White House that involved Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
