Ex-Trump Official: 'Death Threats' Still Keeping Republicans Quiet About Jan. 6

Sarah Matthews, a former Trump deputy press secretary, explained that former officials in the Trump administration don't speak out about Jan. 6 because they fear death threats.

In a year-end interview, ABC's Jonathan Karl sat down with former Trump officials Alyssa Farah Griffin, Cassidy Hutchinson, and Sarah Matthews to ask about their cooperation with the Jan. 6 Committee.

Matthews explained why some Republicans still have not come forward.

"I think it's really easy to paint all of these Republicans with a broad brush and say that they're doing it for, you know, their own personal ambitions, which I think is a large majority of them," Matthews said. "But I think another thing that we have to consider as a factor is that a lot of these people won't come forward even if privately they'll acknowledge that Trump is unfit or will privately acknowledge that the 2020 election wasn't stolen."

"It's because they know that they will face death threats, that their families will face death threats," she observed. "I knew that coming forward and speaking out against Donald Trump, I could potentially face security threats or death threats, online harassment."

But Matthews said coming forward "ultimately it was the right thing to do."

Alyssa Farah Griffin agreed.

read more