Mississippi’s Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson said he will not be intimidated by threats from President-elect Donald Trump that he and other members of the special House committee he chaired “should go to jail.”
Thompson, who chaired the special House Jan. 6 Committee that looked at the efforts of Trump and others to overturn the results of the 2020 election, was cited by Trump in a weekend network news interview.
Referring to Thompson and former U.S. Rep. Liz Chaney, R-Wyoming, who also was on the special committee, Trump said, “Chaney was behind it and so was Bennie Thomson and everybody on that committee. For what they did, honestly they should go to jail.”
In a statement in response to Trump’s charges, Thompson said, “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.”
It is not clear what criminal charges House members, who like Trump have constitutional protections for actions taken while in office, and former members could face.
In a social media post, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, an avid Trump defender, criticized the threat of legal action against Thompson and other members of the Jan. 6 Committee.
“The fact is that there is no viable criminal case to be made against the J6 Committee members for their investigation or report,” Turley said on social media. “We need to move beyond the rage rhetoric if this country is going to come together to face the tough challenges ahead.”
In an essay Turley criticized the actions of the Jan. 6 Committee, but said members of Congress are protected by the U.S. Constitution from prosecution for action related to their official duties.
There have been multiple other instances where Trump and his supporters have threatened to jail people.
For instance, Kash Patel, who is Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, has spoken of jailing journalists despite the freedom of press protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution.
In a recent interview, Patel said, “We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media. Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out. But, yeah, we’re putting you all on notice.”
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
