Fox News Legal Analyst Jonathan Turley Rips Trump’s Call for J6 Committee Members To Be Jailed: ‘Gave His Critics a Windfall’
Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley criticized President-elect Donald Trump’s call for the members of the Jan. 6 select committee to be imprisoned.
During an interview that aired on Meet the Press on Sunday, Trump told host Kristen Welker that former Reps. Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and the other members of the panel who investigated his attempt to overturn the 2020 election should “all go to jail.”
“Cheney was behind it,” Trump said. “And so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee. For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.”
Welker asked Trump if he will “direct your FBI director” to go after them and have his attorney general send them to jail.
“No, not at all,” he said before equivocating. “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.”
Turley took to his website on Monday to say Trump had played into his critics’ rhetoric and said there is no case against the committee’s members.
“The fact, however, is that there is no viable criminal case to be made against the J6 Committee members for their investigation or report,” he wrote. “We need to move beyond the rage rhetoric if this country is going to come together to face the tough challenges ahead.”
He added:
I have been one of the most vocal critics of the J6 Committee, having written over a dozen columns on their misrepresentation of evidence, false claims, burying of evidence, and political bias. I consider the J6 Committee to be not just a colossal failure but a missed opportunity for a bipartisan look at that tragic day. I also fully support the effort of the House committees to finish its own investigation into the security failure at the Capitol and the record of the J6 Committee.
Having said that, these are ethical and political failings, not criminal violations.
Turley cited the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution, which insulates members of Congress from being prosecuted over statements they make during sessions. He further pointed out that “presidents do not send people to jail. Juries and judges do that. We have the oldest and most successful constitution in history. J6 Committee members, like all citizens, are fully protected under that system.”
He later wrote, “Trump gave his critics a windfall benefit, which they can now cite as the basis for the blanket pardons.”
Turley harshly criticized President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden for any federal crimes he committed or may have committed between 2014 and 2024. The younger Biden had been convicted on gun and tax charges and was awaiting sentencing. There has been reporting that the president is considering issuing pardons for members of his administration who some Democrats believe could be unjustly targeted by the looming Trump administration.
