Former President Donald Trump railed against the investigation into the January 6 Capitol riot, two days after his ex-adviser Steve Bannon was indicted for defying a subpoena from the House select committee’s probe of the insurrection.
In a Sunday statement posted to Twitter by his spokesperson Liz Harrington, Trump asked why “the people and states who cheated on the election” were not being investigated, repeating an unfounded claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
NEW!
President Donald J. Trump:
“Why aren’t they investigating the people and states who cheated on the election causing the protest of January 6th? Why aren’t they investigating the people who ruthlessly and violently burned down and took over Democrat-run cities… pic.twitter.com/UCaTfYMf0m
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) November 14, 2021
“Instead they are viciously investigating those who protested the November 3rd Presidential Election, the Crime of the Century. No investigations on Election Fraud, but if anybody was near the Capitol waving an American flag, they’ve had nothing but trouble.”
He added: “American Patriots are not going to allow this subversion of justice to continue, including the use of prosecutors, local, state, and federal, to torment and destroy innocent people. All this, while our Country is going to hell!”
The former president’s statement comes after Bannon’s indictment on Friday. The Department of Justice announced that Bannon was charged with one contempt count involving his refusal to appear for a deposition and another count involving his refusal to produce documents to the committee. He could face up to one year in jail for each count of contempt.
Bannon has refused to cooperate with lawmakers during the investigation, arguing that executive privilege protects him from having to turn over records, though he was not working in the federal government at the time of the riot.
The House select committee alleged that on December 30, 2020, he recommended for Trump to focus his election efforts on January 6. He also allegedly attended a gathering at the Willard Hotel—which served as a command center for the efforts to block the election results’ certification—on January 5.
Mark Meadows, who served as Trump’s chief of staff from March 2020 until January 2021, also ignored a subpoena to appear for a private hearing before the committee. The committee has threatened to issue a criminal referral against Meadows.
Representative Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who chairs the committee, wrote in a letter shared on Thursday that Meadows had “no valid legal basis” for his “continued resistance to the Select Committee’s subpoena.”
Several people have now been sentenced for their role in the riots.
The Justice Department has recommended that Jacob Chansley, who has been popularly described as the QAnon Shaman, serve more than four years in prison for his role in the Capitol riot. Prosecutors claimed Chansley was among the first 30 rioters to enter the Senate chamber where he left a note on the dais where then-Vice President Mike Pence was presiding over the certification. The note allegedly read: “it’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”
One woman who participated in the insurrection, Jennifer Leigh Ryan, was sentenced to two months behind bars on November 4. In March, she tweeted that she would “definitely” not go to jail because she has “blonde hair white skin a great job a great future.”
In October, Thomas Vinson and Lori Vinson were sentenced to five years of probation, $500 in restitution, and 120 hours of community service for their participation. They were also ordered to pay $5,000.
In total, more than 600 people have been arrested since the January 6 riot that left more than 100 law enforcement officers injured. Five people died during or shortly after the insurrection.
Olivier Douliery – Pool/Getty Images
