At least six Republican members of Congress have been publicly identified as pressing the White House under President Donald Trump to give them pardons in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol, former Trump aides said in testimony to the House panel investigating the deadly insurrection.
GOP Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania asked Trump to pardon them for helping him try to overturn the 2020 election, the former White House aides said in a series of taped statements presented Thursday on Capitol Hill.
The Trump White House aides John McEntee, Cassidy Hutchinson, and Eric Herschmann mapped out how the GOP House lawmakers — most of whom have been subpoenaed by the select committee — asked for legal cover from prosecution in a montage of clips the House select committee investigating the riot played during its fifth public hearing.
The list of identified members may grow. Committee staff posted an image of an email Brooks sent administration officials, the subject being “Pardons.”
In it, Brooks says he’s writing on behalf of Gaetz and urges Trump to “give general (all purpose) pardons to the following groups of people: Every Congressman and Senator who voted to reject the electoral college vote submissions of Arizona and Pennsylvania.”
Cheney had named Perry during the panel’s first hearing as she said investigators had uncovered evidence of sitting members of Congress lobbying the embattled president to clear them of any wrongdoing before leaving office.
Perry, who has been subpoenaed by the committee regarding his interaction with the former Justice Department official Jeff Clark, denied the accusation.
“The notion that I ever sought a Presidential pardon for myself or other Members of Congress is an absolute, shameless, and soulless lie,” Perry wrote on social media.
R&I – FS
Captain