At Least 5 Members Of Congress Asked Trump For Pardons, According To Jan. 6 Committee

WASHINGTON ― The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol named five additional Republican Congress members who sought pardons from President Donald Trump.

The requests stemmed from their involvement in Trump’s schemes to try to subvert the 2020 presidential election, which Trump insisted he won despite losing by several million votes.

The committee previously revealed that Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) sought a presidential pardon, something the congressman denied.

During Thursday’s public hearing on Capitol Hill, witnesses close to the Trump White House said in previously recorded interviews that Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Mo Brooks (Ala.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.) and Louie Gohmert (Texas) also asked for pardons.

“The pardon he was requesting was as broad as you can describe ... for any and all things,” former Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann said of Gaetz in video testimony that the committee played on Thursday.

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, confirmed to the committee that Gaetz and the other GOP members of Congress sought pardons.

“Mr. Gaetz and Mr. Brooks I know both advocated for there to be a blanket pardon,” Hutchinson said.

In a statement after the hearing, a spokesperson for Brooks said the congressman only wanted a pardon in case Democrats abused the justice system and started “prosecuting and jailing” their political opponents.

Brooks also released an image of the email he sent to the White House in December, on behalf of himself and Gaetz, recommending that the president give “general (all purpose) pardons” to every Republican who voted to overturn the election after the Jan. 6 riot.

In a speech at Trump’s rally before the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Brooks said, “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.”

Hutchinson said that she heard Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also asked for a pardon but that she didn’t hear it directly. “I heard that she asked the White House counsel’s office for a pardon,” she said.

“The only reason I know to ask for a pardon is because you think you’ve committed a crime,” Jan. 6 committee member Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said.