House Republicans shy away from Trump and Rep. Elise Stefanik's use of term "Jan. 6 hostages"
Washington — Former President Donald Trump's controversial and provocative claim that Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendants are "hostages" has been echoed by some — but only some — of his Republican allies in Congress. In a series of interviews conducted by CBS News, Trump's congressional supporters, including some who have endorsed his 2024 White House candidacy, largely declined to endorse Trump's use of the word "hostages."
In campaign stump speeches over the past month, Trump has argued the defendants who are imprisoned for their roles in the attack on the U.S. Capitol are "hostages," and he has openly talked about offering pardons for the defendants. GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who oversees House Republican messaging as the House GOP conference chairwoman, also used the term "hostages" when describing Capitol riot defendants during an appearance on "Meet the Press" earlier this month.
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"I have concerns about the treatment of Jan. 6 hostages," Stefanik said, adding, "I believe that we're seeing the weaponization of the federal government against not just President Trump, but we're seeing it against conservatives."
The term has drawn the ire of victims of the Capitol siege, including injured police and Democratic House members who were trapped in the House chamber as the violent mob pushed past police lines. Nearly 500 of the approximately 1,200 Jan. 6 defendants have been sentenced to prison, after pleading guilty or being convicted at trial.
When pressed by CBS News about whether they, too, would characterize Jan. 6 defendants as "hostages," after Trump and Stefanik did, several House Republicans declined to use the term.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California, who endorsed Trump Thursday, told CBS News he would not call the Jan. 6 defendants "hostages."
"I would've chosen different words," he said. At the same time, Issa does think that the prosecution of some Jan. 6 defendants has been "over the top."
He said of Stefanik's claim, "She has a point, which is: Everybody wants to make Jan. 6 the worst thing that ever happened. Many of the people there were there harmlessly." Issa thinks Stefanik was trying to simplify a broader argument by invoking the term "hostages." "It takes a lot of words to do so," he said. "And on a Sunday show, it's sometimes hard to do it."
GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia chairs a House subcommittee reviewing Capitol security failures ahead of the Capitol attack. When asked by CBS News if he thinks the term "hostages" describes the Jan. 6 defendants, Loudermilk replied, "It depends on who they are. I haven't spent a lot of time diving into those individuals' cases. Watching the video, there were terrible acts of violence."
But he also claims there were police officers who "encouraged people to go into the Capitol."
"Generally, the truth is somewhere in the middle," Loudermilk said.
Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, an ardent Trump supporter who in 2023 voted for Trump to be speaker of the House, agrees with Trump and Stefanik on their characterization.
"I think there civil rights are being violated in many cases," he told CBS News. When asked if he endorsed the term "hostages", Nehls responded, "Yeah. If you're being held in there and your civil rights are being violated," referring to Jan. 6 defendants who have been convicted and imprisoned.
The hundreds of defendants who have been incarcerated for their offenses on Jan. 6 are being held in a series of federal prisons nationwide, from Arizona to Michigan to Virginia. Court dockets do not show findings of systemic or broad civil rights violations involving the handling of the Capitol riot inmates in federal prison facilities.
In late 2021, a judge called for a review of the health and safety conditions in the Washington, D.C., jail, where a few dozen defendants were held temporarily in pretrial detention. The defendants who remain in pretrial jail in Washington are in a newer portion of the facility and held together in that wing of the jail.
"I call them 'political prisoners,' not 'hostages.' But I'm not caught up in the semantics of it," said Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene of Georgia, speaking with CBS News near the House Chamber Thursday. Greene has visited Jan. 6 defendants in the Washington, D.C., jail, including during a congressional tour offered in March 2023. She has accused the Justice Department of overzealously pursuing Jan. 6 cases and has been especially critical of the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who is prosecuting the cases.
Trump's defense and championing of Jan. 6 defendants has enraged victims of the attack. At a news conference last week, retired Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said, "If they're hostages, what do you call the police who protected the Capitol that day?"
Gonell, who suffered serious injuries during the riot, posted an image of Stefanik on social media this week and wrote, "On Jan. 6, she was so glad to see the 'hostages' that she ran in fear to escape their 'hugs and kisses' and only made it with the help of the police."
Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, a former chair of the House select Jan. 6 committee, said Trump's use of the term is dangerous and could provoke future attacks. He told CBS News, "I spent two years of my life looking at (the Capitol attack) and there's nothing about this that resembles a hostage situation. It was an insurrection, as close to a terrorist attack on the United States Capitol as possible. To equate these individuals with hostages is clearly way out of bounds. Those people just need to quit it. It'll say to some sick people that it's all right to attack your government."
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- Elise Stefanik
- Donald Trump
Scott MacFarlane is a congressional correspondent. He has covered Washington for two decades, earning 20 Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. His reporting resulted directly in the passage of five new laws.
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