A former Trump administration official is trying to explain away Donald Trump’s recent statement that some members of Congress should go to jail for investigating the January 6 attack. But CNN’s Jim Sciutto wasn’t having it and kept confronting him with the actual clip of Trump’s words.
During an interview with Kristen Welker, Trump specifically mentioned former Rep. Liz Cheney, Rep. Bennie Thompson, and others, saying they “should go to jail” for their roles in the January 6 investigation. Trump has also said he would consider pardoning many of the rioters who stormed the Capitol that day... Continue reading here ▶
Sciutto pushed back, reminding viewers that on January 6, many Republicans were hiding in fear for their lives. “At the time, there was bipartisan support for investigating the attack. So what’s the reasoning behind saying lawmakers should go to jail for that?” Sciutto asked.
Matt Mowers, a former Trump aide, tried to soften Trump’s comments. “If you watch the clip again, you’ll see he was frustrated about January 6 and the members of Congress involved, but he quickly backed off.
He’s not actually saying they should be jailed,” Mowers said. “He even said he wouldn’t ask the FBI to do that.”
But Sciutto wasn’t buying it. “He said they should go to jail. Those were his exact words,” Sciutto replied.
Mowers insisted that Trump later clarified his comments. “The campaign put out a statement saying the law should apply equally to everyone. If the January 6 committee’s report has evidence to back up their claims, then maybe investigations could happen, but it depends on the facts.”
To make his point, Sciutto replayed the clip where Trump said, “And Cheney was behind it, and so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee. Honestly, they should go to jail.”
Mowers kept trying to explain, but the clip seemed to speak for itself, leaving little room for doubt about what Trump actually said.
