Adam Kinzinger had the perfect response to Trump’s strategy of attacks and lies

This is an adapted excerpt from the Dec. 9 episode of "Deadline: White House."

During an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press,” Donald Trump was asked whether he intends to fire FBI Director Christoper Wray, a man the president-elect himself appointed during his first term. 

Trump responded by railing against Wray, telling Welker he was “unhappy with the things he [Wray has] done.” He then accused the FBI director of invading his home — a reference to the court-approved search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property after he refused to return classified documents taken from the White House during his presidency.

I recently saw the movie “The Apprentice” and it crystallized, for me, what Trump’s entire communication strategy is. It’s pretty simple, there are three things central to Trump’s philosophy: First, always attack. Second, lie whenever you need to. And third, never admit you’re wrong. 

And if you look at his interview with Welker, that’s exactly the formula Trump followed. He tried to turn every question that was asked of him into an attack on someone else. He lied when he needed to, and he refused to admit that he was wrong about anything. 

To that end, during the same interview, Trump made a threat against members of the Jan. 6 committee, telling Welker they should “go to jail.” Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who served on the committee then responded to that threat, told CNN he has “absolutely no worries” the president-elect will try to put him in jail. 

“First off, the executive branch can’t go after the legislative branch because we embarrassed him,” he said on Sunday. “That’s not a sin, that’s not against the law.” Kinzinger basically told Trump to bring it on. It’s the perfect response to the president-elect’s strategy of attacks and lies.

Now, I’m not saying that Trump can’t disrupt people’s lives with investigations — the power of a prosecutor to ruin someone’s life without ever bringing charges is real.

But having said that, whether it’s a civil or a criminal case, Trump and the lawyers who surround him know that the Constitution says defendants get a jury trial. They also know that in a criminal trial, the jury must agree unanimously, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a crime was committed. You can’t prove that without evidence, and prosecutors, frankly, don’t bring cases without evidence.

So despite the bluffs and bluster central to Trump's communications strategy, a lot of his threats, as Kinzinger says, are just howling.

 Allison Detzel contributed.