January 6 "Shaman" Jacob Chansley regrets his involvement, but he rejects the "bogus narrative" of him having any mental health issues, he told Newsmax in an exclusive interview Monday.
"My mental health is as sound now as it was then," Chansley told "National Report" in a wide-ranging interview. "The fact of the matter is, this notion of mental illness or having mental health issues is a bogus narrative."
Chansley said it began with his former lawyer concocting it in a defense he does not agree with.
"The fact of the matter is, my previous attorney Albert Watkins was inaccurate in his portrayal of me and his representation of me," Chansley said. "Whether or not he did that for his own purposes or to try to get me a reduced sentence is negligible.
"What is important is the fact that my mental health is perfectly sound, and I guarantee you I will do a better job in the Congress than anybody that is running or is currently in there because I will actually speak for the American people as one of the American people."
Chansley filed to run for Arizona's 8th Congressional District as a libertarian candidate after Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., announced she will not run for reelection.
Despite serving time for a felony conviction of obstructing a congressional proceeding, Chansley noted he remained peaceful, did not break anything, and even assisted law enforcement during the protest in the Capitol.
"The moment that I entered the building I stopped somebody from stealing out of the break room," he said. "The whole reason why the police were escorting me around the building was because I offered to help them clear the Senate chamber, offered to help them make sure there was no vandalism, violence, or theft.
"And as soon as I got out the building, not a short time after, I stopped people from breaking in and told everybody to go home. No, I was not violent. No, I did not break anything. No, I did not steal anything. I was doing everything to keep the peace."
Chansley served 29 months in federal custody, including 10½ months in solitary confinement, he said, but he used the "time wisely."
"It was very, very difficult, but the thing is, you can either invest your time, waste your time or spend your time," he said. "Time is the currency of the universe, and I chose to invest my time in self improvement. I chose to invest my time in educating myself. I chose to invest my time and helping prisoners, inmates to see a more spiritual view of reality."
Chansley even "taught a metaphysics class" and helped inmates with art classes to help with the diseases of addiction while in prison, he added.
"So it was not a waste of my time. Do I believe that the punishment fit the quote, unquote crime? Well 10½ months in solitary confinement total for what it is I did, I don't know if that's fair.
"We can either regret and live with resentment, or we can march forward with the lessons that we've learned, and that's why I chose to invest my time wisely."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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