According to recent reports, the January 6 Committee, which investigated the 2021 Capitol protests, is concerned Trump will imprison them if he is reelected later this year. House Democrats who led the investigation have noted safety concerns and fear of being arrested if Trump defeats Biden.
The fear of legal repercussions for the hypothetical legal repercussions stems from a March 18 Truth Social post from former President Donald Trump, which called for Liz Cheney to be jailed. “She should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
Trump further alleged in a second post that Cheney even destroyed evidence. “SHE SHOULD BE PROSECUTED FOR WHAT SHE HAS DONE TO OUR COUNTRY! SHE ILLEGALLY DESTROYED THE EVIDENCE. UNREAL!!!” Trump added.
These comments have led many high-ranking Democrats to fear President Trump and the implications of what might happen if he is to be reelected. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a staunch advocate of investigations and impeachment efforts against the former, told CBS, “My wife and I have had conversations about what life would look like if the worst happened… . You can’t avoid the conversations about ‘What if?’ And I have to think about my own personal safety.”
Moreover, California Democrat Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who participated on the J6 panel, noted that she is concerned because Trump has a track record of following through with his intentions.”One of the things that I observed during our Jan. 6 committee work was that when Trump says something, he intends to do it,” said Lofgren. She continued, “I take that lesson to heart. When he says various things, I think that’s what he means he’ll do.”
Former Washington, D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, a vocal critic of Trump who testified at a 2021 J6 committee hearing, expressed his concern that the former president will “weaponize the justice system. “He’s going to weaponize the Department of Justice…and use it to go after people like myself,” he said.
Another former U.S. Capitol Police officer, Harry Dunn, who is now running for Congress in Maryland as a Democrat, told CBS News, “Anybody who has testified against him, or spoken out in a public capacity, should be worried.” The aspiring congressman further asserted that it “is a little scary to think about, but you have to continue to do the right thing.”
However, a Trump spokeswoman issued a statement, blasting the narrative surrounding January 6 that the committee has propagated. The statement claimed that the J6 Committee gave a false report of what occurred during the capitol protests, misleading the American public from the truth.
“Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney, and the Corrupt Democrats on the sham January 6th Committee have lied to the American public for years, denied key witnesses from testifying to the truth, and covered up evidence that proved President Trump, nor any of his supporters, ever engaged in an alleged ‘insurrection.’ Their entire narrative is a lie and Americas know that Joe Biden is the true threat to democracy,” the spokeswoman told CBS News.
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