But a day later, Trump had a different fate in mind for Cheney and other members of the House Select Committee who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and concluded that Trump had plotted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
In a post Sunday on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Cheney “should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee.”
Cheney, the Republican vice chair of the committee, responded to Trump on X, formerly known as Twitter.
And that was followed later Sunday by another exchange on social media where Trump wrote about Cheney on his platform in all caps. To which Cheney replied:
It’s the latest attempt by Trump to smear the House Select Committee and muddy the waters surrounding special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump on four felony charges in relation to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. His trial on those charges has been delayed while the U.S. Supreme Court considers Trump’s claim that as president he had absolute immunity from prosecution in the case.
In one post, Trump was referring to a report released last week by Republicans in an attempt to discredit the House Select Committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection and exonerate Trump. The report, prepared by the House Administration Committee’s oversight subpanel, accused the Jan. 6 select committee of engaging in a partisan witch hunt against Trump, The Hill reported:
Included in the report was a detail about how the driver of Trump’s car on Jan. 6 disputed testimony from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who previously claimed Trump tried to take control of the car and go toward the Capitol. She told the public she heard in a story from others that Trump had “lunged” for the steering wheel after his speech near the White House in an apparent attempt to go toward the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The unnamed driver told the committee, however, that Trump “never grabbed the steering wheel,” and he said he “didn’t see him … lunge to try to get into the front seat at all.”
Republicans have seized on the driver’s testimony and how the committee did not release it earlier as further fuel to their argument Trump should not be held accountable for the Jan. 6 riot.
However, The New York Times reviewed a copy of the driver’s testimony, which indicated he did back Hutchinson’s details about how Trump “was insistent on going to the Capitol” on Jan. 6 after urging his supporters at a rally outside the White House to march there.
In his other post, Trump referenced an article on the right-wing website The Federalist by loyalist Kash Patel, who served as chief of staff to acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller at the end of Trump’s term. In the article, Patel claimed that Cheney and the Jan. 6 committee “suppressed evidence,” which “completely exonerates Trump” from charges that he had a role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, The Guardian reported.
Patel claimed that Trump “ordered” as many as 10,000 National Guard troops to be ready for deployment on Jan. 6, 2021. But Just Security wrote:
The implication was clear: President Trump did not deserve blame for the violence that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol because he wanted the National Guard to keep the peace. There’s just one problem: The claim is not true.
The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol thoroughly investigated this issue—questioning multiple witnesses about it and reviewing countless documents. The committee could not find any evidence to support (White House Chief of Staff Mark) Meadows’ claim. Indeed, Trump’s Acting Secretary of Defense at the time, Chris Miller, directly refuted it in his testimony under oath—explaining that the president did not issue any such order.
Rolling Stone reported that Trump has already “made abundantly clear that he will use a potential second term in office to take revenge on his enemies.”
He’s planning to do so by helming the Justice Department with a loyal attorney general willing to appoint a slew of special prosecutors to go after everyone he feels has wronged him. These plans have been in the works since 2021, as Rolling Stone reported in August, and focus not just on (President Joe) Biden, whom Trump believes is the primary force behind his myriad legal woes, but also on Special Counsel Jack Smith, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and plenty of others. “There are almost too many targets to keep track of,” one Trump adviser familiar with the discussions says.
Rolling Stone reported last year, for example, that Trump’s team has been exploring legal strategies to prosecute Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg—who indicted the former president for falsifying business records to pay hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels—should Trump return to the White House.
The plan would involve using the Department of Justice’s civil rights divisions to go after Bragg, who is Black, for “racist law enforcement policies,” one source told Rolling Stone.
The Washington Post reported that Trump also wanted to take down former administration officials who have since turned on him:
In private, Trump has told advisers and friends in recent months that he wants the Justice Department to investigate onetime officials and allies who have become critical of his time in office, including his former chief of staff, John F. Kelly, and former attorney general William P. Barr, as well as his ex-attorney Ty Cobb and former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley, according to people who have talked to him, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Trump has also talked of prosecuting officials at the FBI and Justice Department, a person familiar with the matter said.
In public, Trump has vowed to appoint a special prosecutor to “go after” President Biden and his family. The former president has frequently made corruption accusations against them that are not supported by available evidence.
Trump told Lou Dobbs in a January interview that it would just be retribution for what he believes is being done to him by a “weaponized” DOJ and FBI. He claims that the indictments and lawsuits Trump is facing are politically motivated.
“That means I can do it too,” he continued. “Pandora’s Box is open and that means that I can do it too.”
But there might be just one problem for Trump in seeking indictments against Cheney and other members of the House Select Committee. They might have a legitimate claim of immunity known as the “Speech or Debate clause,” which is part of the U.S. Constitution.
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
