Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Thursday said the findings of the now-defunct House select committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, “embarrassed” President-elect Donald Trump, prompting his threat of retribution against its members.
In an interview with CNN’s “The Source,” Kinzinger, one of the Republicans who sat on the Jan. 6 panel, said that, despite the outrage the president-elect showed toward its work, the committee served its function.
“I was in the legislative branch. We were investigating as per the request from Congress to do that,” Kinzinger said. “We obviously came up with answers that embarrassed Trump. He was embarrassed by it. It showed that he was completely complicit for 187 minutes while violence happened.”
Kinzinger expressed indifference to Trump’s recent threat to jail some of the committee’s members, addressing the president-elect directly: “Sorry to embarrass you, Donald, but that’s what we were tasked with was the truth.”
“You want to threaten to throw us in jail for that?” he asked. “It just shows how small of a person you really are. I’m not intimidated. The person that intimidates me the least of anybody in this country is Donald Trump.”
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” broadcast Sunday, Trump falsely claimed that the panel “deleted and destroyed all the evidence” and suggested that some members of the committee “should go to jail.”
In December 2022, the committee released its final report detailing Trump’s efforts to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election. The 845-page document also included recommendations on how to prevent a similar attack to the Capitol riot from happening again, including by enforcing the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists serving in office.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), the other Republican who served on the committee, also responded to the allegations Trump leveled toward the panel.
“Here is the truth: Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power,” she said in a statement Sunday.
“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,” Cheney continued.
In an interview published by Time magazine on Thursday, Trump also spoke about his pledge to pardon those charged for their role in the insurrection.
“Well, we’re going to look at each individual case, and we’re going to do it very quickly, and it’s going to start in the first hour that I get into office,” he said. “And a vast majority of them should not be in jail. A vast majority should not be in jail, and they’ve suffered gravely.”
Kinzinger told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins what he thinks Trump is trying to convey with this statement.
“This is basically sending a message not just that in his mind Jan. 6 was a beautiful day,” Kinzinger said. “But I think he’s also sending a message that ‘look, if you commit violence on my behalf I will pardon you.’”
“That’s pretty chilling,” he added.
