The former members of the January 6th committee are up in arms after Donald Trump said they should go to jail for deceiving the American people.

During a sit-down interview with NBC News' Kristen Welker, Trump ripped "thugs and creeps" like Liz Cheney who allegedly deleted evidence.

Over the course of 18 months, the committee presented a sensational narrative accusing Trump of an attack on democracy. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) notoriously rejected the GOP's picks to serve on the panel, leaving Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger - both vocally anti-Trump figures who have since been driven out of Congress - as the only Republicans.

The sweeping probe influenced the criminal prosecutions of Trump, who defied multiple indictments to win re-election.

Two ex-Trump advisers, Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, spent time in prison for defying the committee's investigation.

Trump's message to committee

During his NBC News interview Sunday, Trump suggested he might turn the tables on current and former members of Congress who worked on the January 6th committee, like Republican Liz Cheney.

Trump blasted the committee for its misrepresentations to the public, citing the notorious, discredited claim from star witness Cassidy Hutchinson that he lunged at Secret Service agents, as well as Cheney's alleged role in deleting evidence before Republicans reclaimed control of Congress in 2023.

"For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail," Trump said.

"Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps," he added. "They deleted and destroyed all evidence."

J6 committee erupts

Cheney and others who served on the committee reacted to Trump's threats with righteous indignation.

Chairman Bennie Thompson (MS), who floated denying Trump Secret Service protection before Trump was almost assassinated in July, called Trump a threat to democracy. Cheney called Trump's claims about deleting evidence "ridiculous" as she accused Trump of scheming to undermine the "rule of law" by targeting those who investigated the Capitol riot, which she called the "worst breach of our Constitution by any president in our nation’s history."

"There is no conceivably appropriate factual or constitutional basis for what Donald Trump is suggesting – a Justice Department investigation of the work of a congressional committee – and any lawyer who attempts to pursue that course would quickly find themselves engaged in sanctionable conduct," Cheney said.

The committee members' dramatic charge that Trump is a threat to democracy ultimately did not convince the American people, who decided to send Trump back to the White House for a second term. Trump won re-election resoundingly against Kamala Harris, who received backing from Cheney.

Trump expressed anger throughout the NBC interview, noting he overcame unprecedented "weaponization" by his rivals, as he warned that his DOJ may pursue cases against opponents of his who broke the law - although he stopped short of saying he would seek revenge and specifically said he would let his Justice Department call the shots.

When asked about reports that President Biden is considering pre-emptive pardons for Cheney and others, Trump warned that "maybe" Biden should proceed in that direction.

"Biden can give them a pardon if he wants to, and maybe he should," Trump told Welker.