A House panel investigating the US Capitol insurgency, on Wednesday requested an interview and records from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, seeking first-hand details from members of Congress on former President Donald Trump’s actions as hundreds of his supporters brutally beat police, stormed the building, and disrupted the 2020 election certification process.

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McCarthy was asked by Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the panel’s Democratic chairman, to present material to the nine-member panel about his conversations with Trump “before, during, and after” the disturbance. McCarthy’s conversations with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the days leading up to the incident are also being sought.

“We also must learn about how the President’s plans for January 6th came together, and all the other ways he attempted to alter the results of the election,” Thompson said in the letter. “For example, in advance of January 6th, you reportedly explained to Mark Meadows and the former President that objections to the certification of the electoral votes on January 6th ‘was doomed to fail.’”

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However, it is uncertain whether the panel will be able to get McCarthy or any other Trump legislative friends to testify. While the committee has discussed subpoenaing members of Congress, this would be a bold move that might face legal and political repercussions.

Lawmakers are hoping to get a glimpse into Trump’s mind from an ally who has admitted to having numerous interactions with the president. McCarthy will also be questioned by the committee on his communications with Trump and White House aides in the week following the violence, including a reportedly heated conversation with Trump.

The committee acknowledged the delicate and uncommon nature of their request when it proposed meeting with McCarthy on February 3 or 4. Thompson added, “The Select Committee has tremendous respect for the prerogatives of Congress and the privacy of its Members. At the same time, we have a solemn responsibility to investigate fully the facts and circumstances of these events.”

McCarthy’s office did not respond to a request for comment right away.

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Since the former president’s second impeachment trial in the days following the riot, Democrats have been demanding more information concerning McCarthy’s call with Trump on that day. Democrats stated throughout the trial that they would want to summon Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler as a witness because she recounted the phone call between the two men after hearing McCarthy’s account. Finally, Democrats read Herrera Beutler’s statement into the record. The Senate acquitted Trump, who had recently left office.

McCarthy told Herrera Beutler that he had asked Trump to officially “call off the riot” and that the violent mob was made up of Trump fans, not far-left antifa members, according to Herrera Beutler’s account.

“That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said, ‘Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,’” she added in the statement.

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McCarthy had blasted Trump’s behaviour after the 2020 election, saying he “bears responsibility” for the horrific Jan. 6 incident, which is still the deadliest domestic attack on the building in its history.

McCarthy called the night of the attack “the saddest day I have ever had” in Congress, even as he joined 138 other House Republicans in voting to overturn Joe Biden’s victory.

McCarthy will also have to deal with the panel’s vice-chair, Liz Cheney, whom he ousted from the No. 3 House leadership position last summer after her outspoken condemnation of Trump’s claims about his 2020 election defeat echoed across the Republican Party.

McCarthy had advised Cheney to stay on track, but as she continued to warn the GOP about Trump’s lies, he groomed Elise Stefanik, a newly changed Trump supporter, to take her place.

McCarthy is the committee’s third request for voluntary information from a member of Congress. Jim Jordan and Scott Perry were also called by the panel in recent weeks, but they declined to meet with legislators or give papers.

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In order to compile a thorough record of the Jan. 6 attack and the events leading up to it, the panel, which is made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, has interrogated about 350 people and issued public subpoenas to around 50 people and organisations.

According to a source familiar with the interview who requested anonymity to discuss it, former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany talked to the panel virtually on Wednesday. McEnany was subpoenaed by the committee in November.

The committee claims that the massive amount of information it has gathered — 35,000 pages of records so far, including texts, emails, and phone records from people close to Trump — is helping to flesh out key details of the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries, which was telecast on live television.

Despite the opposition of high-profile Trump friends like Meadows and Steve Bannon, Thompson told The Associated Press in an interview last month that around 90% of the witnesses summoned by the committee had cooperated. Lawmakers said they’ve been successful in obtaining evidence from other sources in part because they share a common goal, which is unusual in a congressional probe.