Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) suggested that January 6 rioters were being treated as "hostages" because they were facing jail time for their crimes.
During a Sunday interview on Meet the Press, host Kristen Welker asked Stefanik about her view of January 6.
"Do you still think it was a tragic day?" Welker wondered. "Do you think that the people who stormed the Capitol should be held responsible to the full extent of the law?"
"I have concerns about the treatment of January 6 hostages," Stefanik replied. "I have concerns. We have a role in Congress of oversight over our treatments of prisoners."
"And I believe that we're seeing the weaponization of the federal government against not just President Trump, but we're seeing it against conservatives, we're seeing it against Catholics," she added. "And that's one of the reasons why I'm so proud to serve on the select committee on the weaponization of the government."
The Republican lawmaker said the "real threat to our democracy is these baseless witch hunt investigations and lawsuits against President Trump."
"The Justice Department has indicted a number of top named Democrats as well, including the President's son twice," Welker pointed out. "So I mean, a lot of critics would argue that undercuts your argument."
"I want to answer that — if you want to, if you want to make that case, the American people are very smart," Stefanik shot back. "They know that they tried to give Hunter Biden a sweetheart deal."
"Joe Biden and the Department of Justice have, have been withheld from going after the Biden crime family, which Joe Biden sits atop of," she added.
"Other top Democrats have been indicted as well," Welker observed.
