Trump threatens jail time for Jan. 6 committee members. How did Schiff respond?

David Lightman, McClatchy Washington Bureau on Dec 10, 2024

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President-elect Donald Trump “should not be threatening his political opponents with jail time,” Sen. Adam Schiff — one of those being threatened — said Tuesday.

During an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said Sunday that members of the special House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection should go to jail.

He said the committee destroyed its records, which Vice Chair Liz Cheney said is a “ridiculous and false” charge.

But in fact, Trump said, “Cheney was behind it. And so is Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee,” he said. “For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.”

Trump told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker he would not direct his FBI director or attorney general to send them to jail. “Not at all,” he said, but added, ‘They’ll have to look at that.”

Schiff, then a Los Angeles-area congressman, was a member of the committee. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., was chairman and former Rep. Cheney, R-Wy., was vice chairman.

The committee had two Republicans and seven Democrats, and it gained widespread publicity as it held hearings and revealed details about the involvement of Trump and his allies in their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. It issued its final report two years ago.

Schiff, sworn in as California’s junior U.S. senator Monday afternoon, was appearing at a news conference Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who was introducing him.

They were asked about Trump’s threats. Schumer was quick to defend Schiff.

“Look, bottom line is we all know Sen. Schiff did a very good job on the hearings. He broke no laws whatsoever. The truth stands for itself,” Schumer said.

Schiff weighed in, saying of Trump’s comments: “That’s not the kind of talk we should hear from the president in a democracy nor do I think that a pardon is necessary for members of the Jan. 6 committee.”

The White House has been considering preemptive pardons for some who could be subject to Trump administration investigations. Schiff has said repeatedly he’s not interested in a pardon.

He reiterated he was “proud of the work we did on that committee. It was a fundamental oversight obligation, to investigate the first attempt to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power in our history.”

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