McCarthy denies promising Trump votes on expunging impeachments

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday rejected claims he promised former President Donald Trump that he would hold votes to expunge the two impeachments against him.

Trump was the only president whom the House of Representatives impeached twice. The first instance involved an incident involving Trump's discussions with the Ukrainian government over an alleged bribery scheme involving now-President Joe Biden. Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley on Thursday released an FBI form detailing that alleged scheme in detail. The second impeachment involved the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot. The Senate acquitted him in both instances.

Republicans have contended that both impeachments were the product of anti-Trump political malice, a claim McCarthy made when addressing reporters on Thursday.

"I support expungement, but there’s no deal out there," he said, according to The Hill. "There’s no deal but I’ve been very clear from long before when I voted against impeachments, that they did it for purely political purposes."

McCarthy's claim follows a report from Politico on Thursday, suggesting McCarthy promised to vote on expunging the impeachments in place of endorsing Trump, as the former president wanted, following a public dust up in which McCarthy questioned Trump's status as the strongest candidate to beat President Joe Biden in 2024.

In late June, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik introduced resolutions to expunge the respective first and second impeachments in the lower chamber, though neither have yet received a vote.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.