- The President-elect made the remarks in an interview on NBC when asked about potential preemptive pardons by outgoing President Biden.
President-elect Donald Trump (R) recently sat for an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker where he said Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson (D) “should go to jail” for his role on the House Select Committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Trump’s comment came as the two discussed the potential for President Joe Biden (D) to preemptively pardon certain political figures that have raised the ire of the incoming president, namely likes of former Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R), now U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D), and Anthony Fauci.
Thompson chaired the Select Committee appointed by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The lone Democrat in the state’s federal delegation voted in favor of criminal referrals sent to the Department of Justice related to Trump and members of his inner circle.
In the committee’s final meeting, Thompson said Trump broke the faith voters had in democracy when “he summoned a mob to Washington and knowing that they were armed and angry, pointed them to the Capitol and told them to, “Fight like hell.’”
READ MORE: Thompson, January 6th Committee vote unanimously on criminal referrals for former President Trump
Trump told Welker on the show that aired Sunday that he thought Vice President Kamala Harris (D) having Cheney join her on the campaign trail this election cycle was a terrible move, adding that Cheney “did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps.”
“So the unselect committee went through a year and a half of testimony. Wait. They deleted and destroyed all evidence of — that they found. You know why? Because Nancy Pelosi was guilty. Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 troops. You wouldn’t have had a J6 because other people were guilty,” Trump said, per the show’s transcript released by NBC News. “The people that said that I attacked two Secret Service agents in a car, I grabbed one around the neck. I was then rebuffed and I grabbed the other one. These are two of the toughest men anywhere on the planet. And they happen to slightly younger than me. You know, just a little bit. Let me just tell you. They testified. They said it was total bullshit. And all of this stuff came out. People lied so badly. Now, listen, this was a committee, a big deal. They lied. And what did they do? They deleted and destroyed a whole year and a half worth of testimony. Do you know that I can’t get — I think those people committed a major crime.”
Trump went on to say that Cheney and the Magnolia State’s 2nd District Congressman Thompson were behind it.
“For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail,” Trump said, adding, “Biden can give them a pardon if he wants to. And maybe he should. Just remember, unselect committee. A year and a half of sworn testimony, and after getting all of the testimony, they deleted it, wait, and they destroyed almost everything. There’s nothing left. It’s unprecedented.”
Welker asked the President-elect if he would direct the new FBI director and Attorney General to send them jail. Trump said, “No.”
“No, not at all. I think that they’ll have to look at that, but I’m not going to — I’m going to focus on drill, baby, drill,” Trump said.
Thompson has long been at odds with Trump as one of the President’s harshest critics.
Four days after the former President ’s New York hush money trial began in April, Congressman Thompson (D) H.R. 8081, the “Denying Infinite Security and Government Resources Allocated toward Convicted and Extremely Dishonorable Former Protectees Act,” or the “DISGRACED Former Protectees Act.”
Thompson’s bill would have stripped Secret Service protection from former Presidents upon sentencing following conviction for a federal or state offense that is punishable for a term of imprisonment of at least one year.
Nearly three months after Thompson filed the legislation, Trump was the target of an attempted assassination in Pennsylvania – the first of two this year. In the wake of the first incident, a now former member of Thompson’s staff posted to social media, “I don’t support violence but please get you some shooting lessons so you don’t miss next time.”
READ MORE: Bennie Thompson staffer fired after social media posts lamenting shooter’s aim in Trump assassination attempt
Thompson, who condemned political violence, later said, “I was made aware of a post made by a staff member and she is no longer in my employment.”
UPDATE:
Late Monday evening, Congressman Thompson issued the following statement:
”Donald Trump has shamefully undermined the rule of law, degraded our democracy, and eroded our Constitution for years, and his latest lies about the work of the January 6th Select Committee are just the latest installment. But let me be clear: Those of us who investigated his central role in the January 6th insurrection are simply not afraid of his most recent threats.
“Our committee was fully authorized by the House, all rules were properly followed, and our work product stands on its own. In fact, in the two years since we have completed our work, no court or legal body has refuted it.
“Donald Trump and his minions can make all the assertions they want – but no election, no conspiracy theory, no pardon, and no threat of vengeful prosecution can rewrite history or wipe away his responsibility for the deadly violence on that horrific day. We stood up to him before, and we will continue to do so.”
