Yes, really.
Which raises a simple question: What laws does Gingrich believe the members of the committee — which includes two Republican House members — are violating exactly?
It will surprise you not at all that a) Gingrich didn’t say and b) Bartiromo didn’t ask. (What did she say? “Well, this is such great analysis.”)
The closest Gingrich got to actually explaining himself was when he told Bartiromo that the members of the House committee were “literally just running over the law, pursuing innocent people,” adding that “it’s basically a lynch mob.”
“The January 6 Select Committee is in the process of potentially bankrupting scores of Americans who worked for or supported President Trump. They face financial ruin defending themselves against the committee’s attack. The legal costs of fighting subpoenas and the further cost of legal counsel if put under oath by a hostile congressional committee creates a real burden. That financial burden is compounded by the psychological stress of being under assault by the House Democrats — and potentially also the FBI.”
His solution? A new Republican majority should form a “Select Committee on Congressional Dishonesty and Abuse of Power” to examine the work of the January 6 committee. (Sidebar: A committee to investigate a committee is the most Congress thing ever.)
Again, though, what is the crime that these House members have committed that will mean the “real risk of jail”? Is it, as Gingrich writes, abuse of power?
I did a quick search for “is abuse of power a crime” and pulled up this language from the Department of Justice: “A simple definition of the abuse of power is the misuse of a position of power to take unjust advantage of individuals, organizations, or governments. Abuses of power have been variously described as white-collar crime, economic crime, organizational crime, occupational crime, public corruption, organized crime, and governmental and corporate deviance.”
That feels like very thin gruel. Gingrich, no dummy, knows that. He’s just throwing red meat to the Trump base — consequences be damned.
But suggesting that members of Congress will be jailed for doing their job is a little much even for someone like Gingrich, who has made his name in recent years for making outlandish and unverifiable claims about opposition to Trump.