Former Representative Liz Cheney and Senator-elect Adam Schiff have strongly condemned President-elect Donald Trump's suggestion that members of the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot should be jailed. The comments have reignited tensions surrounding the probe, which identified Trump as the "central cause" of the attack by a pro-Trump mob.
Trump made the remarks during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, his first broadcast news interview since the election. Referring to the committee's members, Trump said, "For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail," singling out Cheney and former committee chairman Bennie Thompson. Trump accused the panel of deleting evidence, a claim the committee has repeatedly denied.
Cheney, a Republican who served as vice chair of the bipartisan committee, issued a sharp rebuke. "Here is the truth: Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power," Cheney said in a statement. "This was the worst breach of our Constitution by any president in our nation's history. Donald Trump's suggestion that members of Congress who later investigated his illegal and unconstitutional actions should be jailed is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic."
The committee's work, spanning 18 months and including testimony from over 1,000 witnesses, concluded with a unanimous recommendation to the Justice Department for charges against Trump. Despite this, Trump has continued to deny wrongdoing, describing the events of January 6 as a "day of love" and accusing the committee of partisan bias.
Schiff, who will be sworn in as a U.S. senator, also dismissed Trump's comments. "When Trump violated his oath, I stood up to him," Schiff wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "Threats to jail us will not deter us. Nothing will stop me from doing my duty to the American people."
Trump's remarks have raised concerns about the potential politicization of the Justice Department under his administration. While Trump claimed he would not explicitly order his appointees to target political opponents, he has selected staunch allies for key positions, including Kash Patel as FBI director and Pam Bondi as attorney general. Both have indicated a willingness to pursue investigations into Trump's adversaries.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, another Republican member of the committee, also pushed back. "Let me be clear: we did nothing wrong," Kinzinger wrote in a blog post. "The January 6 Committee's work was driven by facts, the Constitution, and the pursuit of accountability - principles that seem foreign to Trump."
Kinzinger went further, labeling Trump's threats as "vindictive fantasies" and challenging him to follow through. "If Donald wants to pursue this, I say bring it on. I'm not intimidated by a man whose actions on January 6 showed a cowardly disregard for democracy and the rule of law."
The dispute has led to speculation that President Joe Biden may issue preemptive pardons for Trump's critics, including Cheney and Schiff, to protect them from potential politically motivated prosecutions. A source familiar with the matter told ABC News that Biden is considering the move as a safeguard against the perceived risks of Trump's second term.
Thompson, in a July 2023 letter, detailed the committee's efforts to preserve its records, disputing Trump's claims of evidence deletion. He noted that transcripts, exhibits, and other materials were archived online and publicly accessible. "There is no conceivably appropriate factual or constitutional basis for what Donald Trump is suggesting," Cheney added, asserting that any lawyer attempting to act on Trump's threats would face "sanctionable conduct."
As Trump prepares to take office, his comments signal a continuation of the divisive rhetoric that has defined his political career. Critics argue that such threats undermine democratic institutions, while Trump's supporters view the remarks as a necessary response to what they see as a politically motivated investigation.
