Conservative lawyer and political activist George Conway on Friday said that members of the Department of Justice should be confident that they can set up criminal cases resulting from evidence shared Thursday by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“This case could be tried, we could do that,” Conway said in an appearance on CNN, emulating what he thought Justice Department officials’ responses should be to the committee’s evidence.
He elaborated: “In fact, I think it’s going to be hard for them not to do it after seeing all this evidence.”
The Jan. 6 committee launched its case against former President Trump over prime-time television Thursday, the committee’s first public hearing since its formation last year.
Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him due to voter fraud led directly to the violence of Jan. 6, according to the committee.
Thursday’s opening public hearing included witness statements from a Capitol Police officer who was concussed during the attack, along with footage of violence on Jan. 6 and witness testimony shared by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the panel’s vice chair.
“All Americans should keep this fact in mind: On the morning of Jan. 6, President Trump’s intention was to remain president of the United States despite the lawful outcome of the 2020 election and in violation of his constitutional obligation to relinquish power,” said Cheney.
She added, speaking directly to her fellow lawmakers: “Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”
Conway, whose wife, Kellyanne Conway, served in the Trump White House, emphasized his view that the evidence presented by the Jan. 6 committee significantly outweighed any presented by Trump and his allies.
“It’s not much to respond to other than Donald Trump’s self-serving statements that, ‘Oh it was fake news,’” he said.
Conway claimed: “There’s a reason why Donald Trump has always avoided being cross-examined under oath as much as possible, why he didn’t do it in the Mueller investigation: He’s got nothing to say, and if he ever tried to testify in his own defense at a trial, he’d get creamed.”
The Jan. 6 televised hearings will continue over the course of this month, each intended to present more evidence against Trump to prove he was at the helm of irresponsible and illegal action in the months after the 2020 presidential election.