Thanks to private recordings obtained by some New York Times reporters, we know that in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had plenty to say — and much of the Republican’s more pointed comments were directed at Donald Trump.

“I’ve had it with this guy,” McCarthy privately told Republicans on Jan. 11, five days after the assault on the Capitol. Referring to the then president, the minority leader added, “What he did is unacceptable.”

That same day, according to a new recording aired last night on CNN, McCarthy also talked about his intention to seek answers about the pro-Trump riot.

“We cannot just sweep this under the rug. We need to know why it happened, who did it and people need to be held accountable for it. And I’m committed to make sure that happens.”

Like so many of the things McCarthy prioritized in the days after Jan. 6, the Republican’s “commitment” did not last. Indeed, in the months that followed, McCarthy’s interest in accountability quickly evaporated as he fully embraced a sweep-this-under-the-rug strategy.

In April and May of last year, for example, the House GOP leader dispatched a trusted ally, New York Rep. John Katko, to negotiate the terms of an independent commission to examine the Jan. 6 attack. As regular readers may recall, McCarthy made sure to include unreasonable demands he expected Democrats to reject.

When Democrats agreed to Republican’s terms anyway, McCarthy refused to take “yes” for an answer and rejected the compromise he’d asked for.

At that point, lawmakers moved on to Plan B: They’d create a bipartisan, special select committee to uncover the facts that McCarthy said he was eager to learn. As we’ve discussed, as part of the process, GOP leaders were invited to recommend a slate of House Republicans to serve on the panel, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had the final call on whether or not they qualified.

McCarthy picked five members, two of whom were rejected for being anti-election radicals, though Pelosi was willing to accept the other three Republicans chosen for the panel. Outraged, GOP leaders quickly announced a boycott of the committee.

As the panel prepares for its primetime hearing this evening, it’s worth pausing to acknowledge that McCarthy’s strategy, from his own perspective, was a failure.

Pelosi offered him an opportunity to have three far-right Republicans participate in this investigation. He instead chose to have zero.

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As chess moves go, this didn’t exactly position the GOP for success. For one thing, the committee ended up being bipartisan anyway: Democrats extended invitations to Wyoming’s Liz Cheney and Illinois’ Adam Kinzinger, both of whom agreed to serve, despite the ostracizing effects of their decision.

For another, McCarthy’s decision has left the rest of the Republican conference completely in the dark. Ahead of tonight’s hearing, the GOP doesn’t know what the committee has, can’t prepare competent defenses for Trump, can’t influence the direction of the investigation, can’t ask contrary questions during public or private proceedings, can’t leak anything, and can’t dilute the panel’s findings in advance of a final report that’s expected in September.

A couple of months ago, a senior House GOP aide told NBC News, in reference to McCarthy’s boycott, “I would say it’s absolutely a strategic mistake.”

As we discussed soon after, McCarthy seemed to believe he was punishing House Democrats last year when he refused to participate in the process he previously supported. If he’d only thought ahead a bit more, the would-be House Speaker would’ve realized he was doing far more harm to his own interests.

The House Jan. 6 committee is kicking off the first of its public hearings Thursday, at 8 p.m. ET. Get expert analysis in real-time on our live blog at msnbc.com/jan6hearings.