Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) responded to President-elect Trump's threat to jail members of the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. He claimed that his statements were unwarranted. “An attack on the rule of law.”
“Here's the truth: Donald Trump tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power,” Cheney said in a statement provided to The Hill.
“He mobilized an angry mob and sent it to the U.S. Capitol, where they attacked police officers, invaded the building, and halted the official counting of electoral votes. , watched on television as the Capitol was stormed and refused for hours to tell rioters to leave,” Cheney said.
“This was the worst constitutional violation by a president in our nation's history. Donald Trump's suggestion that members of Congress who later investigated his illegal and unconstitutional actions be imprisoned is a strong commitment to the rule of law and to our nation. It's a continuation of Trump's attack on his base.”
new york times Cheney's remarks were first reported.
On Sunday, Trump sat down with “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker for his first sit-down interview since winning the election in November. In the conversation, he suggested he would not explicitly order his top appointees to go after political opponents, but members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 incident I mentioned the congressman who was imprisoned.
He called Cheney's actions “inexcusable” and claimed she was behind the entire committee's operations. “Honestly, they should go to jail,” President Trump said of the committee members.
As President Trump prepares to re-enter the White House, there are concerns that he will use the Justice Department to go after political opponents as he faces his own criminal charges during the campaign. He was talking. He is also assembling a cabinet of supporters that, unlike his first government, may not rein him in.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), another vocal critic of Trump, doesn't seem too worried about Trump's threat. He said in an interview Sunday that he was “not at all concerned” about being incarcerated by the president-elect.
“First of all, the executive branch can't go after the legislature because we've embarrassed the legislature. That's not a crime, it's not a violation of the law,” Kinzinger said, adding: He's not going to come after us and I'm not worried about that at all. ”
President Biden is considering granting preemptive pardons to some of Trump's critics, including Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), also a member of the Jan. 6 committee. It has been reported.
Contributed by Michael Schnell.
