Trump meets House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy

Washington, July 16 (IANS) Former US President Donald Trump met House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, as the latter was considering the selection of members to the Democrat-led Select Committee tasked with investigating the January 6 Capitol riot.

"Kevin McCarthy will be meeting with me this afternoon at Trump National in Bedminster, (New Jersey). Much to discuss," Trump announced in a statement on Thursday.

The meeting came a day after House Democrats announced that the first hearing of the panel, of which Speaker Nancy Pelosi has named eight members, will be held on July 27 featuring officers from Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department and the US Capitol Police, Xinhua news agency.

Lawmakers will "hear first-hand" from the witnesses about what happened on January 6, when a mob of pro-Trump demonstrators breached the Capitol Complex.

It will be the second meeting between Trump and McCarthy since they last huddled together at the former President's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after he left office.

McCarthy remained a staunch ally of Trump's despite the former president's second impeachment over "incitement of insurrection" by spreading unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

McCarthy must now decide who to fill the remaining five posts on the Select Committee, though his choices could potentially be vetoed by Pelosi, according to the rules governing the panel's composition.

While the date of the first hearing effectively serves as an ultimatum for McCarthy, Representative Bennie Thompson, chair of the panel, told MSNBC in an interview last week the hearing will go ahead regardless of whether the GOP leader chooses to cooperate or not.

CNN reported on Thursday that McCarthy intends to announce his selections before the first hearing.