Democrats who investigated Trump say they expect to face arrest, retaliation if he wins presidency

Source: CBS News

Updated on: April 17, 2024 / 6:03 AM EDT


Some members of Congress who led the investigation into former President Donald Trump's role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot acknowledge they've talked to their families about their safety — and the risk of their arrest — if Trump wins a second term in November. In a series of interviews with CBS News, House Democrats who helped lead the House Jan. 6 select committee and some of the police witnesses who testified before it predicted they'd be targeted for retribution by a future Trump administration.

Trump raised the prospect of future arrests of some of the Jan. 6 committee participants in a social media post on March 18. Referring to the panel's vice chair, former Rep. Liz Cheney, Trump wrote, "She should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!"

"My wife and I have had conversations about what life would look like if the worst happened," said Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who was one of seven Democrats on the Jan. 6 select committee. Speaking to CBS News near the House chamber between votes last week, Schiff said, "You can't avoid the conversations about 'What if?' And I have to think about my own personal safety."

Rep. Pete Aguilar, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus and was a member of the Jan. 6 committee, told reporters last week that he takes Trump's threat of jailing seriously. But Aguilar, noting the proximity of the Washington, D.C., jail to the U.S. Capitol, smiled and wryly noted, "My family has told me that they're going to come to D.C. either way — and they'll visit me, no matter where I am."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democrats-investigated-trump-expect-arrest-retaliation-if-trump-wins/