George Conway, lawyer and frequent critic of Donald Trump, has said the former president may have incriminated himself after he recently admitted he wanted Mike Pence to overturn the election results, and vowed to pardon January 6 defendants if re-elected.
Conway, husband of former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, appeared on MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes to discuss Trump's Sunday statement in which he suggested his former vice president should have "overturned the election" last January 6, but "unfortunately" failed to do so during his purely ceremonial role as presiding officer of the Senate.
The statement arrived after Trump promised to pardon those convicted in connection to January 6 attack if reelected during a rally in Texas on Saturday, if that's what it takes to "treat those people fairly."
Speaking to Hayes, Conway suggested Trump's remarks over the weekend are a "kind of a trifecta going to his intent" that prosecutors may be able to use against him.
"By offering pardons, or suggesting that he might pardon people who committed violent acts on January 6, he's demonstrating that he approved of their acts and it's consistent with the reports that he was watching it with glee," Conway said.
"It adds to the case that he was actually intending to foment violence that day," Conway added.
"His statements to the effect that he was trying to get Pence to overturn the election goes into intent about what he was trying to do, whether he was acting with a corrupt motive to try to interfere with a congressional proceeding."
Conway said Trump's recent comments prove that his "modus operandi" with regards to constantly pushing election fraud claims and riling up his supporters is to use threats of violence to coerce government officials to "either forego enforcing the law against him" or violate the law in order to keep him in power.
Hayes then suggested that Trump threatening to pardon those who committed acts of violence or allegedly conspired to stop the election results being certified on January 6 shows he is putting in the ground work to "get the gang back together and come for you a second time" amid apparent plans to run again for president in 2024.
In response, Conway agreed that is "absolutely" what the former president is planning.
"He's saying now that November 3 was the real insurrection. He's praising the people, as he initially wanted to do," Conway said.
"He's praising the people who did what they did on January 6, as he did when he said 'this is what happens when a free and fair election is stolen.'
"He wanted these people to do what they did, and they did what they thought he wanted to get them to do. And that's what they're telling the courts when they're getting sentenced."
Elsewhere, rep. Liz Cheney vice chair of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack, said Trump's comments over the weekend are proof that he would "do it all again."
Cheney tweeted: "Trump uses language he knows caused the Jan 6 violence; suggests he'd pardon the Jan 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy; threatens prosecutors; and admits he was attempting to overturn the election.
"He'd do it all again if given the chance."
Trump has been contacted for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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