On Thursday, multiple former Trump White House aides testified to the House Select Committee that six House Republicans sought presidential pardons in the aftermath of the Jan t6 attack on the US Capitol.
In a taped deposition shown during the hearing, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, said that five days after the insurrection, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., sent an email with the subject line “Pardons” to the White House requesting a pardon for Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., himself and “every congressman or senator who voted to reject the electoral college vote submissions of Arizona and Pennsylvania.”
Specifically, Gaetz had been asking for a pardon since “early December,” Hutchinson said, noting Reps. Andy Biggs, Louie Gohmert and Scott Perry also sought pardons from the White House. John McEntee, a former White House aide, also said Gaetz had told him he asked Meadows for a pardon.
Hutchinson also testified she had heard that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) of Georgia reached out to the White House counsel’s office to ask for a pardon. She said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) “talked about … pardons but he never asked me for one.”
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John McEntee, the former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, said Trump “hinted at blanket pardon” for “everyone involved.”
The testimony was played at the end of a hearing that included new details about lawmakers’ involvement in former President Trump’s efforts to pressure the Justice Department to probe his voter fraud claims.
According to the aides who testified, the following members sought pardons:
• Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)
• Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA.)
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)
• Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL.)
• Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ)
• Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
“The only reason you ask for a pardon is if you think you’ve committed a crime,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said during the hearing.
Watch:
Republican members of Congress, including Mo Brooks and Matt Gaetz, contacted the White House to ask for pre-emptive pardons from then-President Donald Trump, according to testimony at the hearing on the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol https://t.co/VLdqYBxVS2 pic.twitter.com/jIsbkSleAF
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 23, 2022
