Lindsey Graham Opposes Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 Committee Threat

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, opposed on Sunday President-elect Donald Trump’s warning that Congress members who served on the House select committee who investigated the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, “should go to jail.”

When asked during a “lightning round” by NBC News host Kristen Welker on Sunday’s Meet the Press if Graham, a Trump ally, agreed with the president-elect’s statement that the members of the committee should be jailed, the senator said “no.”

Trump first made the remarks last Sunday during his first major network interview since winning the election on Meet the Press where Trump told Welker that “[Representative Liz] Cheney…[Representative] Bennie Thompson, and everybody on that committee…should go to jail.”

Newsweek has reached out to Graham’s office and Trump’s transition team via email for comment.

The bipartisan investigative committee was chaired by Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat. Then-Representative Cheney of Wyoming, along with then-Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, both staunch critics of Trump’s, were the lone Republicans to serve on the committee.

The House select committee was tasked with investigating the events surrounding the riot, which led to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) criminally charging Trump in connection to it. The riot broke out after Trump repeatedly claimed that now-President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win was stolen via widespread voter fraud, despite there being no evidence of such claims. Trump has maintained his innocence, saying the case was politically motivated. The case was dismissed without prejudice after Trump won this year’s election.

Trump also told Welker last week that the January 6 committee lied and destroyed evidence, however, there is no evidence to back up his claims. “I think those people committed a major crime,” he said.

When asked if he was going to direct his FBI director, Kash Patel, and his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to “send them to jail,” Trump said, “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,” referring to his energy policy.

Kinzinger responded last Sunday to Trump’s comments in a Substack article and wrote: “Let me be clear: we did nothing wrong. The January 6 Committee’s work was guided by facts, the Constitution, and a commitment to accountability—principles that seem foreign to Trump.”

He added in part: “If Donald wants to pursue this vindictive fantasy, I say bring it on. I’m not intimidated by a man whose actions on January 6th showed a cowardly disregard for democracy and the rule of law.”

During this year’s election cycle, there were fears that Trump would seek retribution against his political enemies.

In a phone interview with Newsmax in June, Trump floated the possibility of imprisoning his political opponents in the event he returned to the White House.

That same month he also previously rejected the notion he wants retribution against his political enemies when asked by Fox News host Sean Hannity but noted that he would “have every right to go after them.”

Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt, the spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition, said in a statement previously emailed to Newsweek late Sunday morning, “President Trump will serve ALL Americans, even those who did not vote for him in the election. He will unify the country through success.”

Despite concerns over Trump’s remarks, Senator Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, downplayed concerns about Trump’s “retribution” against his political rivals in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday morning.

“Trump has made it clear that he wants to go after his political opponents. He’s talking about members of the January 6 committee should go to jail. Are you worried at all about being a target for retribution, you or members of your family?” Tapper asked the senator on State of the Union.

Romney, a Trump critic, responded: “No, actually I’ve been pretty clean throughout my life. I’m not particularly worried about criminal investigations. I don’t know how much, by the way, of what the president says is hyperbole because there was a lot of ‘this person oughta be jailed and that person oughta be jailed’ that said during the last two campaigns. But I think President Trump is likely to try and focus on the future. People who committed crimes I’m sure will be prosecuted but I think that’s few and far between.”