Rep. Adam Kinzinger ‘Fears For Future Of This Country’ If Trump Isn’t Charged Over Jan. 6

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Illinois) said over the weekend that he thinks the Justice Department will charge former President Donald Trump over his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack and that he “fears for the future,” if they don’t.

“I think the Justice Department will do the right thing,” Kinzinger, who served as one of the two Republicans on the House select committee that investigated the Capitol riot, said during a Sunday appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. “I think he will be charged. I frankly think he should be.”

“If this is not a crime, I don’t know what is. If a president can incite an insurrection and not be held accountable, then really there’s no limit to what a president can do or can’t do,” Kinzinger added.

The committee wrapped up its investigation in December after months of interviews, review of documents and public hearings by referring Trump to the Justice Department on four charges including assisting or aiding an insurrection. They noted they also had evidence to believe that Trump was guilty of two more: seditious conspiracy and conspiring to injure or impede an officer.

The Justice Department is not required to take action on the committee’s findings, but it has requested access to the committee’s evidence.

“If [Trump] is not guilty of a crime, then I frankly fear for the future of this country because now every future president can say, ‘Hey, here’s the bar.’ And the bar is, do everything you can to stay in power,” Kinzinger said of the events of January 6, 2021.

Kinzinger’s term ends on Tuesday. He did not seek reelection in November’s midterm elections.