Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo ripped the January 6 Select Committee investigation of the Capitol riot during Thursday’s episode of “The Chris Cuomo Project” podcast.
Cuomo accused the committee of playing the “gotcha game” by investigating the events of January 6, and causing more division rather than solving any issues. The host said the committee knows they will not get their “desired outcome” of criminally charging those allegedly involved in January 6.
“Now absolutely, it is in your interest for what happened and by whom to be rooted out and remedied. There could be crimes, especially on this fugazi election front that we’re just learning about now,” Cuomo said. “Less so I think around the planning and the practical aspects of what happened on January 6. I don’t see that there’s criminality there, at least on what’s been offered. My question is are we really learning enough about what matters or is this starting to play like a gotcha game, like the impeachment?”
Cuomo said the public knew the 2021 impeachment of former President Donald Trump would never get the outcome. He doubted the effectiveness of the Democrats and Trump critics “fomenting of tension” being in the best interest of the American people.
“I don’t know that that kind of fomenting of tension, that kind of protracted process, when you know you weren’t going to remove the president. Is that really in America’s interest? Certainly debatable. The outcome was never going to be what was desired,” he continued.
Cuomo argued the crime in the investigation of alleged Russian collusion was “conspiracy,” and argued it was pointless given that they knew all along the case would never be prosecuted. He suggested the January 6 committee is another example of politicians making politics “into a policing action with criminal consequences.”
“Fomenting tension, lying to inflame just to create more outrage, wanting to watch a run on the Capitol, ignoring violent intentions, these are all terrible,” he said. “But treason? You wind up undercutting your purpose when you exaggerate the desired outcome or consequence … the January 6 hearings lose their impact on consensus because of the intended consequences pursued.”
A CNN poll found that 69% of Americans consider the Capitol riot to be a major threat to American democracy. Roughly 4 in 10 Americans closely following the committee hearings. The poll surveyed 1,002 adults between July 22 to 24 with a 4.0 margin of error.
A separate poll conducted by ABC News/Ipsos found that 34% of Americans followed the committee hearings somewhat or very closely. The poll surveyed 545 adults between June 17 to 18 with a 4.5% margin of error.
