Over 50 leaders of conservative groups called on Kevin McCarthy to boot Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney from the House GOP conference

• Conservative leaders called on Kevin McCarthy to boot Cheney and Kinzinger from the House GOP.
• A letter cites the two Republicans' "egregious actions" as members of the January 6 committee.

Over 50 Republican leaders — many of whom lead the most important organizations within the conservative movement — released a letter calling for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to remove Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger from the House GOP conference.

It's the latest saga in an ongoing effort to punish the duo for participating in the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

In July, the hard-line House Freedom Caucus also called for the two to be expelled from the conference, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene raised the issue again recently as the House prepared to censure Rep. Paul Gosar for posting a violent anime video that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The letter cites Cheney and Kinzinger's "egregious actions as part of the House of Representative's January 6th Select Committee."

"As duly elected representatives, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger are free to serve in the House, but they should no longer do so with the privileges granted to members of the House Republican Conference," the letter reads. "They should no longer be given access to the benefits of a conference they actively seek to undermine."

The letter went on to say that the January 6 committee "has no formal representation from Republicans" since both Republicans serve at the request of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"As part of Pelosi's team, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger have deliberately sought to undermine the privacy and due process of their fellow Republicans, and those of private citizens, with improperly issued subpoenas and other investigatory tactics designed not to pursue any valid legislative end, but merely to exploit for the sake of political harassment and demagoguery," the letter reads.

The select committee has issued dozens of subpoenas, including to people close to former President Donald Trump. The former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon faces charges of contempt of Congress, and the House voted to refer the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to the Justice Department for defying subpoenas.

The letter concluded by calling for an immediate vote on the matter while warning McCarthy that the leaders would be doing more to amplify the issue with voters.

"We ask that the GOP conference meet immediately to vote on stripping Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger from their membership in the GOP conference," the letter reads. "We further inform you that conservative leaders are launching a nationwide movement to add citizens' voices to this effort."

The letter was signed by several influential conservative leaders, including American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Club for Growth President David McIntosh, and Citizens United President David Bossie.

While the offices of McCarthy and Cheney did not respond to Insider's requests for comment, the Kinzinger spokesperson Maura Gillespie said that it was "sad but not surprising that politicians who push conspiracy theories to their constituents and outright lie for their own personal gain are threatened by Congressman Kinzinger, a truth-seeking member of congress who respects the institution he serves, the people he represents, and the oath he took to defend and protect the US Constitution."

Kinzinger also commented on the letter on Twitter, writing that he was "trying to figure how conspiracy and coverup aligns with the teachings of Christ" in reference to the fact that several leaders from evangelical and other Christian groups had signed onto the letter.