Senate Republicans are not vocally protecting former President Donald Trump anymore after the House Jan. 6 committee recommended that the Department of Justice look into prosecuting Trump over his crimes and actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
GOP senators, especially allies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have said that the Jan. 6 committee has had a thorough investigation in which they interviewed many “credible” witnesses in order to reach their conclusion. They further added that while they have certain problems with how the Democrats tried to use the committee and its findings to gain more political support, they still believe that Attorney General Merrick Garland or Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith need to look into whether or not Trump should be indicted.
In a statement, McConnell argued that the entire country knew who had responded, and then he pointed the finger at the referrals made by the committee to the Justice Department.
This is the most damning comment that McConnell has ever made against Trump over the Capitol being attacked on Jan. 6, 2021. That same year McConnell had also denounced Trump on the Senate Floor on Friday of 2021.
During the second impeachment trial, McConnell had noted how the people who “stormed” the U.S. Capitol believed that they were taking the actions that their President had requested.
McConnell was not the only person to speak up as Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) similarly said, “It’s up to Justice now.” When he asked about whether the committee had conducted a credible investigation, Thune had replied by saying that they had interviewed a number of credible witnesses.
