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GRAND FORKS — Two of the three members of North Dakota's Congressional delegation call the Jan. 6 hearings nothing more than a political stunt.
"I think they are incredibly choreographed to most degree," said Republican Congressman Kelly Armstrong.
He was on the House floor when the attack happened.
"When everybody in a congressional hearing has the same fundamental goal and end game to the whole thing, without an opposition party, it tends not to have a what a normal congressional hearing would have," Armstrong said.
The defense lawyer turned politician, who at one point was nominated to sit on the committee but did not due to a political spat , said he's learned nothing new from these hearings.
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"Anybody who was involved in that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Armstrong.
When asked if Donald Trump should also be prosecuted, Armstrong said he hasn't seen evidence for that.
"I have not seen anything at this point that leads us to that," Armstrong said. "Listen, you can have political culpability and I think that's the end goal of this. But if you are going to have criminal culpability, a congressional hearing isn't where it comes from. It comes from the DOJ."
When asked, Senator Kevin Cramer said he has been too busy to watch the hearings.
"I haven't watched 30 seconds of the Jan. 6 hearings because, of course, I'm in hearings most of my day," said Cramer.
According to the Nielsen ratings, 20 million people watched the first hearing on TV two weeks ago. That's about the same number of people who watch Sunday Night football.
"I don't think the general public's frankly all that interested, and quite honestly, they ought to be having hearings about what to with the price of fuel," said Cramer.
Former President Trump has not ruled out another run for president in 2024. Senator Cramer says he would back that run.
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"Frankly I'd love to serve four more years with Donald Trump. I think what we're seeing coming out of the Supreme Court and other courts is evidence of what a great job he did," said Cramer.
The hearings will resume next month.
