Trump threatens to throw Jan 6 committee members in jail
Donald Trump threatened to throw members of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack in jail in a new interview.
The now-president-elect's claims of election fraud were weaponized to instigate a mob attack against the US Capitol on January 6 2021, as his supporters attempted to stop Congress from certifying the transfer of power.
Trump went on to be prosecuted for those actions in a now-defunct investigation ended by the Justice Department after his 2024 election victory, as well as by Congress in the form of the bipartisan committee to investigate January 6.
He told NBC that he believes all members of the January 6 committee should be thrown in jail – though he stopped short of outright threatening to use the Justice Department to do so.
“Everybody on that committee … for what they did, yeah, honestly, they should go to jail,” Trump said on Sunday’s Meet the Press.
He also claimed that former Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Bennie Thompson, who co-chaired the committee, were “behind” his federal prosecutions.
“Honestly, they should go to jail for what they did,” Trump said.
“So you think Liz Cheney should go to jail?” moderator Kristen Welker asked.
“I think everybody on the – anybody that voted in favor,” he said.
The committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump, and their final report stated Trump intentionally spread lies about the 2020 election and encouraged his followers to attack the Capitol. Cheney spent much of October on the campaign trail after she and her father, former vice president Dick Cheney, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump has previously threatened members of the committee, writing on Truth Social in March of last year that they “should be prosecuted for their lies and, quite frankly, TREASON!”
When Welker asked if Trump would direct his FBI director or attorney general to prosecute and jail committee members, Trump said, “No, not at all. I think that they’ll have to look at that, but I’m not going to — I’m going to focus on drill, baby, drill.”
On the campaign trail, Trump often said he wanted to prosecute special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to pursue prosecution of Trump for his mishandling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Following Trump’s election, Smith announced he would step down. A longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibits prosecuting a sitting president.
Trump told Welker that he would let his nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, “do what she wants to do” regarding potentially investigating Smith.
Welker asked if Trump wants to see Smith jailed, and he responded, “I think he’s very corrupt but I want [Bondi] to do whatever she … wants to do.”
“I’m not going to instruct her to do it,” he added.
President Joe Biden is reportedly considering issuing pardons for Trump’s targets on the Jan. 6 committee, including Cheney and Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, according to Politico, which cited Biden aides.
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