WASHINGTON — The threats are back.
Since President Donald Trump issued sweeping pardons — along with 14 communications — on Monday for the roughly 1,500 people convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol and attacking law enforcement four years ago, there’s been an uptick in threats to the members who served on the January 6 Select Committee.
"Well, already the crazy calls have started coming back," a former member of the committee told Raw Story. The member is not being named due to safety concerns.
"Are you getting threats?" Raw Story asked.
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"Oh yeah,” the member said. “Several members have indicated that since the pardon that they're getting, 'Hey, we're gonna come get you now' and that kind of thing."
"So has your office gotten them?" Raw Story inquired.
"Oh, yeah," they said.
"Does that worry you though?" Raw Story pressed.
"Personal safety is a concern, I think, for a lot of people," the committee member continued. "It puts the public at risk when you put people who have been convicted of assaulting law enforcement back on the streets and you kind of embolden the conduct that they did, like it was somehow okay? So you legitimize bad behavior by people who broke into the Capitol and did all kinds of crazy stuff."
While the former select committee member doesn’t think the threats are coming from those who’ve been pardoned, they’re bracing for what’s to come.
"Some of the folks that he pardoned are still a clear and present danger to the public, members of Congress, staff here on the Hill," the committee member said. "Some of them, as you know, have already publicly said that they're not going to change.”
That’s a far different tune than House Speaker Mike Johnson is singing this week.
Earlier Wednesday, the speaker unveiled a new Jan. 6 subcommittee intended to “uncover the full truth that is owed to the American people,” according to his statement.
“House Republicans are proud of our work so far in exposing the false narratives peddled by the politically motivated January 6 Select Committee during the 117th Congress, but there is still more work to be done,” Johnson’s office released in a statement.
While the speaker’s office didn’t expound on what they now term "false narratives," the former January 6 Select Committee member told Raw Story the only falsehoods they’ve heard this week have come out of the White House — and now Republicans in Congress.
"You know, we had 140 people get hurt. Obviously, some lost their lives. Now to pretend like that was nothing, that what you saw with your own eyes somehow didn't happen, I'll just say, it's a blot on this institution,” the committee alum said. “It's a blot on the people who support people like that being pardoned."