Trump will ‘most likely’ pardon Capitol rioters on day one and says Jan. 6 committee members should be jailed

President-elect Donald Trump said he would pardon his supporters involved in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 on his first day in office, saying those detained would “live in hell.”

Trump made his most far-reaching comments since his election victory in an exclusive interview with NBC News “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker. He also said he would not try to turn the Justice Department against his political enemies and warned that some members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack “should go to prison.”

On his first day in office, Trump said he would provide legal relief to the Jan. 6 rioters, who he said were subjected to a “very nasty system.”

“I will act very quickly. “On day one,” Trump said, later saying of their detention: “They’ve been sitting in there for years, and they’re in a dirty, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be opened.”

Trump said there could be “some exceptions” to his pardons “if someone is radical and crazy,” pointing to some debunked claims that anti-Trump elements and law enforcement officials had infiltrated the crowd.

At least 1,572 defendants have been charged and more than 1,251 have been convicted or found guilty of the attack. Of these, at least 645 defendants were sentenced to prison sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years in federal prison. About 250 people are in custody, most of whom are serving their sentences after being convicted. A handful are being held in custody on orders from a federal judge.

Trump did not rule out pardoning people who had pleaded guilty, even when Welker asked him about those who admitted to attacking police officers.

“Because they had no choice,” Trump said.

Asked about the more than 900 other people who pleaded guilty in connection with the attack but were not accused of assaulting officers, Trump said they were unfairly pressured to plead guilty .

“I know the system. “The system is a very corrupt system,” Trump said. “You say to a man, ‘You’re going to prison for two years or 30 years.’ And these guys look, their whole lives have been destroyed. They were destroyed for two years. But the system is a very evil system.”

The charges ranged from unlawful parading to seditious conspiracy in the sprawling Jan. 6 investigation. Rioters were caught on video attacking officers and people who admitted under oath that they had done so. The January 6th defendants in custody include Proud Boys and Oath Keepers convicted of seditious conspiracy, a January 6th defendant recently convicted of conspiring to murder the FBI special agent who was investigating him , another defendant who fired shots into the air during the attack, and another arrested outside former President Barack Obama’s home after Trump posted a screenshot of the address.

Trump said he would not direct Pam Bondi, whom he said he would nominate for attorney general, to investigate special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two separate federal cases against Trump that were ultimately dropped after the election. Trump called Smith “deranged” and said he thought he was “very corrupt.” Ultimately, he said, he would leave those decisions to Bondi, and he said he would not direct her to prosecute Smith.

“I want her to do what she wants to do,” Trump said. “I won’t instruct them to do that.”

Trump claimed members of the January 6 House committee “lied” and “destroyed a year and a half of testimony.”

He singled out Republican Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a vocal Trump critic who left Congress, and Democrat Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who led the committee, saying they had destroyed evidence collected as part of their investigation and that “these people have made a big mistake”. Crime.”

Cheney said in a statement released Sunday that Trump “lied about the Jan. 6 special committee” when he said committee members “should go to jail.”

“There is no reasonable factual or constitutional basis for what Donald Trump is proposing – a Justice Department investigation into the work of a congressional committee – and any lawyer attempting to pursue that path would quickly find themselves implicated in sanctionable conduct,” added Cheney added.

Cheney called for the release of materials Smith collected during his investigation, adding: “Ultimately, Congress should require that all material be released publicly so that all Americans can see Donald Trump for who he really is and his “We can fully understand the role played in this terrible time in our nation’s history.”

The committee has preserved transcripts and videos of some of the more than 1,000 witness interviews and posted them online. Some interviews that contained private and sensitive information were sent to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for review to ensure that certain information was not improperly shared. Those transcripts remain with the agency and the White House and a separate House committee continue to have access.

“Frankly, they should go to jail,” Trump said of the committee members, insisting he would not order his appointees to arrest them.

Trump’s view of DOJ and FBI

The interview offers an in-depth look at Trump’s thoughts on the Justice Department and the FBI.

Trump – who faced four separate criminal charges and became the first former president to be convicted of a crime after a New York jury found him guilty of 34 crimes in the Stormy Daniels hush money case – expressed his deep displeasure with the justice system, insisting However, he was looking forward to doing so.

“I don’t plan on going back to the past,” he said when asked if he would attack outgoing President Joe Biden. “I want to make our country successful. Retribution comes through success.”

While Trump had previously announced that he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden, he said that he did not plan to do so “unless I find something that I think is reasonable” and that such a move would be “Pam Bondis Decision” would be, and to a different extent, Kash Patel,” his choice for FBI director.

FBI Director Christopher Wray — the Republican whom Trump appointed in his first term after firing James Comey — would have to resign or be fired for Patel to take his place. Under a post-Watergate reform, FBI directors have ten-year terms, although only one FBI director – Robert Mueller, who ultimately served for twelve years and later became a special prosecutor investigating Trump’s 2016 election campaign and Russia’s interference in it Wahl investigated – it managed that long.

Trump said he wasn’t “thrilled” with Wray for “invading my house,” referring to the search of his Mar-a-Lago compound in Florida during the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents The boxes of files were found inside the resort, including some stored in a bathroom.

“I’m suing the country for this. He invaded Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said. “I’m very unhappy with the things he’s done, and crime is at an all-time high.” (Law enforcement data shows a “historic” drop in crime.) Trump indicated that Wray would be fired if he didn’t resign .

Asked about a list of 60 members Patel described in his book as members of the so-called “deep state,” Trump said Patel would “do what he thinks is right” if confirmed, adding, that he believed Patel had an “obligation” to investigate whether “someone was dishonest or fraudulent or a corrupt politician.”

There are more than 40 days until Trump’s inauguration and Justice Department prosecutors continue to target individual rioters, but the impending change in administration has not gone unnoticed.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, emphasized the importance of “truth and justice, law and order” before sentencing a defendant to a year in prison on Jan. 6. After imposing the sentence, Lamberth ordered the imprisonment of Philip Grillo.

“Trump will forgive me,” Grillo said, taking off his belt and surrendering.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com