GOP House lawmakers sought pardons, panel reports

At least a half-dozen Republican members of Congress sought preemptive pardons from President Donald Trump as he fought to remain in office after his defeat in the 2020 election, witnesses have told the House Jan. 6 committee, the panel disclosed this week.

Trump “had hinted at a blanket pardon for the Jan. 6 thing for anybody,” Trump’s former head of presidential personnel, Johnny McEntee, testified.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., appeared to ask for a broad pardon, not limited to his role in Trump’s effort to reverse the outcome of the election. Gaetz even invoked the pardoned former President Richard Nixon as he did so, Eric Herschmann, a White House lawyer for Trump, testified.

“He mentioned Nixon, and I said, ‘Nixon’s pardon was never nearly that broad,’ ” Herschmann recounted.

Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., sent an email seeking a preemptive pardon for all 147 members of Congress who objected to the certification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.

A former adviser to Mark Meadows, Cassidy Hutchinson, testified that Gaetz, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., all expressed interest in pardons.

She also testified that Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, “talked about” pardons but did not directly ask for one, and that she heard of newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., also expressing interest to the White House Counsel’s Office.

Taken together, the former White House aides portrayed members of Congress concerned about potential exposure to prosecution in the wake of their support for Trump’s attempts to stay in power. And the accounts provided an extraordinary, under-penalty-of-perjury portrait of efforts to use a president’s broad clemency powers for nakedly political purposes.

In a statement, Perry denied seeking a pardon. “I stand by my statement that I never sought a presidential pardon for myself or other members of Congress,” he said.

Greene posted a clip of Hutchinson on Twitter and added: “Saying ‘I heard’ means you don’t know. Spreading gossip and lies is exactly what the January 6th Witch Hunt Committee is all about.”

Gohmert also denied making such a request and condemned the committee for how it has comported itself. Biggs similarly said that Hutchinson was “mistaken” and that her testimony was edited “deceptively.”

Gaetz did not respond to a request for comment.

Brooks confirmed seeking a pardon but said it was because he believed the Justice Department would be “abused” by the Biden administration. He released the letter, in which he said he was putting the request in writing at the instruction of Trump.

The White House Counsel’s Office and Herschmann argued strenuously against the pardons for members of Congress, and Trump did not grant them.