WATCH: Elise Stefanik Sounds The Alarm On Treatment Of 'January 6 Hostages'

On Sunday, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), one of the most powerful Republicans in the House of Representatives, joined Kristen Welker on NBC's 'Meet The Press' to discuss the events of January 6 and the various defendants who have been charged or who are currently facing serious charges in court. During the discussion, Stefanik explained that she is concerned with the weaponization of the judicial system against conservative Americans, including the "January 6 hostages" that have been relentlessly targeted by the FBI over the past three years.

Welker began the segment by playing a clip of Stefanik's speech on the House floor on the evening of January 6, where she condemned the violence that had taken place earlier in the day in that very building. When asked if she still believes that January 6 was a tragic day, Stefanik answered, "First of all, Kristen, as typical for NBC and the biased media, you played one excerpt of my speech," the Republican House Conference chair said, as reported by Breitbart. "I stand by the comments that I made on the House floor, and I stand for integrity. I challenged the certification of the state of Pennsylvania because of the unconstitutional overreach. I stand by my floor speech. I am proud to support President Trump."

Stefanik then went on to explain the ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden, but Welker moved back to the topic of January 6 to ask Stefanik, "Do you still feel as though that day was tragic and that those who were responsible should be held responsible to the fullest extent of the law?"

"I have concerns about the treatment of January 6 hostages. I have concerns," the New York Republican said in response to Welker's question. "We have concerns of oversight and over our treatment of prisoners. I believe we're seeing the weaponization of the federal government not just against Trump, but we are seeing it against conservatives. We are seeing it against Catholics. That's one of the reasons why I am proud to serve on the Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Government because the American people want answers and they want transparency, and they understand that as you look across this country, there seem to be two sets of rules your last name is Clinton or Biden, you get to live by another set of rule than if you're an everyday, patriotic American."

"I've been clear, Kristen. If you go back and play the full speech that I gave on the House floor, I condemn the violence just like I condemn the violence of the BLM riots, but I also importantly stood for election integrity and security of our elections, which, if we don't have that, we don't have a democracy. So the real threat to our democracy are these baseless witch hunt investigations and lawsuits against President Trump, whether it's Letitia James or what we see in the D.C. circuit court, and that is undemocratic and it is shredding our Constitution. And you know who agrees with me, Kristen? The American people, and that is why President Trump is winning in poll after poll."

President Trump has also called for the release of the January 6 "hostages" at a campaign event in Iowa over the weekend, where he told the crowd, "They ought to release the J6 hostages. They've suffered," he said. "I call them hostages. Some people call them prisoners. I call them hostages. Release the J6 hostages, Joe. Release them, Joe. You can do it real easy, Joe."

WATCH:

"I have concerns about the treatment of January 6 hostages. We have a role in Congress of oversight over our treatment 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… pic.twitter.com/L4tMHY6TPw

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) January 8, 2024

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