The following is a transcript of an interview with GOP representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois that aired on Sunday, March 27, 2022 on “Face the Nation.”
JOHN DICKERSON: Now let’s go to Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. He is a member of the group investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol and is in Houston this morning. Congressman, welcome.
AMERICAN CONGRESSMAN ADAM KINZINGER: Thank you. It’s good to be with you.
JOHN DICKERSON: Let’s start, before we go to committee on January 6, let’s start with Ukraine. President Zelenskyy called for more NATO planes and tanks, as we just talked. He said: “I spoke today with the defenders of Mariupol, if only those 31 days ago thinking about how to manage the dozens of planes and tanks would have 1% of their courage.” You have advocated for an air exclusion zone. How do you feel about giving planes and tanks to Ukrainians?
CZECH REP. KINZINGER: Look, I mean, I’ve spoken to members of the Ukrainian parliament, those who, as you know, are also advocating for what is needed on the ground. And they say they need them. I mean, we can have the Pentagon all that means, well, we don’t think they have the pilots for the MiGs. They do. They have trained and waiting pilots. We can make the Pentagon say, well, we think this is an escalation. Well, if you don’t mind, you know, the javelins that are killing thousands of Russian soldiers are a climb, but then sending a plane, you know, and frankly, Ukraine has already flown some planes is, like, a climb, this is. just wrong. And I think you’re sending the wrong message. We have to give them everything they need to win this war because we have made it clear that we are not directly involved. And I don’t think we should do that right now.
JOHN DICKERSON: All right. We will go to the committee on the 6th of January. Bob Costa and Bob Woodward, who are with me a little later, reported on the committee’s texts to Clarence Thomas’s wife. And I just want to read a little bit. They are addressing White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who is calling for efforts to overthrow the election. Mr. Thomas wrote “Don’t give in,” and then in another he wrote, “Most know that Biden and the left are attempting the biggest robbery in our history.” Where are these significant ones?
CZECH REP. KINZINGER: Well, look, I can’t, as a member of the committee, confirm, deny the existence of these. I will tell you, though, that we have thousands of text messages from many people. We have many documents. And, in a methodical, fact-based way, we’ll get to the answers here. We will call, we will call who we need. I think the committee’s conclusion is this: was there an effort to overturn the legitimate election of the United States? What was January 6 like about that? And what is the rot of our system that caused this and still exists today? You know, with conspiracy theories, as we’ve seen, you know, this idea was reported to release kracken or the CIA attacked the DOD or was attacked by the DOD in Germany. John, like half the country at one point, believed some of these things. And this is a roadmap on how to overthrow a legitimately elected government. So this is important. We will get to the bottom of this. And as we are seeing in Ukraine, people are ready to die for democracy. At least we should be willing to put races into play for the same cause.
JOHN DICKERSON: So no one disputes the authenticity of these texts. Which leads to the question: will the committee summon Mrs. Thomas and question her?
CZECH REP. KINZINGER: Look, I think once again we want to make sure that this is not driven, even in the political realm, it is not driven by political motivation, but by facts. So when it comes to any possible future calls from Ms. Thomas, we’ll take a look at what the tests are and make a decision and we’ll all know as soon as we do. What I don’t want to do is speculate too much, because I think it’s important that we have answers here for the American people in a real way.
JOHN DICKERSON: You talked about system rot. Does rot go to the Supreme Court?
CZECH REP. KINZINGER: Look, again, I won’t say that. I won’t say do it or not. We will only present to the American people what the answer is. And the Supreme Court is in charge of its own ethics. They take care of their own inner things. But what we need to do is present to the American people where they have been lied to, where lies have been believed, where there are bad actors, for example, who sympathize with Vladimir Putin. These kinds of things are very important because in five or ten years, when the children read the history books on January 6, they will not be buying any of these conspiracies. They are getting the truth.
JOHN DICKERSON: What about you? You said the Supreme Court has its own ethics, so we’ll let them handle that. Why can’t a private citizen send texts, strange as they are, to the head of the White House cabinet, what’s wrong … what’s wrong?
CZECH REP. KINZINGER: Well, again, we’re in a position where we’re not confirming or denying, you know, what Costa and Woodward have reported. But if they are, you know, look, in any case, if a particular citizen has a conversation, of course, we have freedom of speech in this country. The question for the committee is this or any exchange, was there a conspiracy or an attempt to find a reason or to what extent did we cancel an election. Look, we’re not like the committee for, you know, throwing people in jail. We may have criminal references as we do against Mark Meadows because he has denied legitimate requests from Congress to repeatedly enter. So it’s in the DOJ. Our job is just to get answers from the American people and then they can decide.
JOHN DICKERSON: Before, these texts fall. They leave in December and January, given the passion with which Mrs. Thomas sent text messages. Are you sure Meadows has delivered all your texts?
CZECH REP. KINZINGER: I’m not sure … Meadow delivered everything. I mean, he was cooperating with us a little bit and then, in an attempt to make Donald Trump happy, he stopped cooperating. We gave him plenty of space to go back and resume. He didn’t. And in fact, he has relinquished executive privilege, you know, a thousand times by presenting us with what he already has. So, bottom line is that I’m not convinced that he has given us everything. And that is why it is now in the hands of the DOJ, whether to prosecute it out of contempt. He is despised not only by Congress, but by his former institution of Congress, and therefore by the American people. I hope the DOJ does the right thing, and I hope we get all the information that, no, it’s not Congress that deserves the American people, John. The American people deserve these answers.
JOHN DICKERSON: Okay, Congressman Kinzinger, thank you so much for being with us. See you again. And soon we will return with much more to FACE THE NATION. Stay with us.
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