Kinzinger says Trump threatening J6 committee members because they 'embarrassed' him
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) suggested that President-elect Trump has signaled he would have lawmakers on the special House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol imprisoned because he is "embarrassed" by the panel's findings.
"We were investigating, as per the request from Congress to do that, we obviously came up with answers that embarrassed Trump. He was embarrassed by it," Kinzinger, who was one of the two GOP members on the panel, told CNN's Kaitlan Collins Thursday.
"You know, sorry to embarrass you, Donald, but that's, that's, that's what we're tasked with, was the truth, and history books will record this as the truth. You want to threaten to throw us in jail for that?" the vocal Trump critic added.
The Hill has contacted Trump's press team for comment.
The final report released by the committee in 2022 included several legislative recommendations, with one that seeks to bar Trump from holding office in the future under the 14th Amendment. The panel also argued that the former president should not be allowed to serve in government because the amendment’s insurrection clause prohibits people who “engaged in insurrection” from holding such posts.
Kinzinger's comments come as Trump expressed openness to having lawmakers on the Jan. 6 special committee imprisoned during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
Though, some members of the special committee have hit back at Trump, saying the criminal conduct surrounding the riots was committed by Trump and his supporters, not those who investigated the incident afterward.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was the other Republican member of the House committee, called the threat an “assault on the rule of law.”
“Here is the truth: Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power,” Cheney, another outspoken Trump critic, previously said in a statement provided to The Hill.