Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., joined from left by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks at a news conference on Dec. 7, 2021.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
- At least nine people close to Donald Trump reportedly requested preemptive pardons following Jan. 6.
- Former Trump aides named six GOP lawmakers while testifying before the Jan. 6 panel this month.
- A former aide also said Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani asked the then-president for pardons.
At least six Republican members of Congress requested preemptive pardons from former President Donald Trump in the wake of the Capitol insurrection, according to testimony from former Trump aides last Thursday.
The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot has hosted six public hearings so far revealing their findings, which also included public damning testimony from former staffers in the Trump administration.
GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene were among the six GOP lawmakers also asked Trump to pardon them for their efforts in trying to overturn the 2020 election.
During a surprise hearing on Tuesday, June 28, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, also testified that former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows were among those who asked the former president for a preemptive pardon after the pro-Trump mob descended upon the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Hutchinson also previously testified that former Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio had discussed pardons with the White House but never asked for one.
On Sunday, Jordan responded to his mention during the hearing, accusing the January 6 House panel of “misrepresenting” a video clip of him saying “the ultimate date of significance is Jan. 6 in a presidential election in determining the winner.”
“This committee, I think the country understands, is purely partisan,” Jordan said. “And they’re frankly not paying much attention to what’s being said.”
Here are all of the people who sought a pardon from Trump following the Capitol riot, per testimony:
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Hutchinson, who served as a top aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows at the time of the insurrection, testified on Tuesday that her former boss asked the president for a preemptive pardon in the wake of the Capitol siege.
Rudy Giuliani
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
In the surprise public hearing on Tuesday, Hutchinson also alleged that Giuliani asked Trump for a pardon over the January 6 attack.
Media outlets previously reported that Giuliani had also requested a preemptive pardon ahead of the siege in December 2020 related to a criminal probe into whether the former New York City mayor violated foreign lobbying laws through his business dealings in Ukraine.
Giuliani did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona
Rep. Andy Biggs.
US House of Representatives
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified in a previous video deposition that Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona was among six GOP lawmakers who requested a pardon from Trump for any connection to the January 6 Capitol attack.
The select committee in May requested that Biggs testify about any communications he’d had with Trump, Trump administration officials, and Stop the Steal rally organizers regarding efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. The lawmaker refused to cooperate with the probe and accused the committee of engaging in a “baseless witch hunt.”
Following Hutchinson’s public allegation that he sought a presidential pardon for January 6, Biggs denied the accusation in a Twitter statement and said the former aide was “mistaken” in her testimony. He accused the panel of “deceptively” editing Hutchinson’s words to “make it appear as if I personally asked her” for the pardon.
Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama
Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama.
AP Photo/Vasha Hunt
In the days following the insurrection, Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama requested a blanket pardon not only for himself, but for all 146 GOP members of Congress who objected to the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 win, per the January 6 committee.
In an email to Molly Michaels, Trump’s former White House executive assistant, Brooks asked for “all purpose pardons” for the lawmakers. The January 6 panel earlier this month shared an image of the email with a subject line reading “Pardons.”
In the correspondence, Brooks specifically said he was writing on behalf of Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, as well.
In a statement to Insider last week, Brooks confirmed the legitimacy of the email and said he had made the request because there was “concern” that Democrats would prosecute and jail Republicans following January 6.
“Fortunately, with time passage, more rational forces took over and no one was persecuted for performing their lawful duties, which means a pardon was unnecessary after all,” he said.
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida at the White House on May 8, 2020.
Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images
Former Trump aides also named Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida as one of the lawmakers who sought a preemptive pardon related to the Capitol siege and efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election.
Former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann said Gaetz’s pardon request covered “from the beginning of time up until today, for any and all things,” asking for a pardon similar to the one received by President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal.
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson also testified that Gaetz’s requests for a pardon dated back as early as December 2020 — weeks before a mob of Trump supporters laid siege to the US Capitol.
Following the aides’ testimony, Gaetz did not deny having asked for a pardon. Instead, he attacked the select committee as “an unconstitutional political sideshow” in a Twitter statement.
Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas
U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, listens during a news conference at the Capitol Building on December 07, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
After former Trump aides testified last Thursday that Gohmert sought a pardon from Trump, the Texas lawmaker denied doing so and accused the January 6 committee of spreading “propaganda.”
“I have never sought a pardon for myself and anybody who says otherwise is a liar and possibly a lot worse,” Gohmert tweeted last Friday.
Ahead of the Capitol riot in January 2021, GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert attempted to overturn the 2020 election by filing a suit maintaining that former Vice President Mike Pence, not US voters, had the power to decide the presidency.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide, testified that she heard that Greene had asked for a pardon from the White House Counsel’s Office following the Capitol riot.
In response, Greene tweeted a clip of Hutchinson’s testimony, writing “Saying ‘I heard’ means you don’t know.”
“Spreading gossip and lies is exactly what the January 6th Witch Hunt Committee is all about,” she wrote in the tweet.
Greene, a staunch Trump ally, has been vocal about disputed claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, though in July 2021 she was among those who rejected the conspiracy theory that Trump will be reinstated as president in August.
Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania outside the Capitol on December 3, 2020.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images
GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, who serves on the January 6 House panel, said during a hearing that Perry had requested a pardon for his role in seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Perry, along with several other Republican lawmakers, has refused to testify before the committee.
According to the January 6 committee, the Pennsylvania Republican played a significant role in the then-president’s efforts to stay in power by introducing Trump to sympathetic DOJ official Jeffrey Clark and pushing then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to set in motion a plan to keep Trump in power.
In response, to the allegation, Perry tweeted: “The notion that I ever sought a Presidential pardon for myself or other Members of Congress is an absolute, shameless, and soulless lie.”
Lawyer John Eastman
John Eastman testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 4, 2013.
Charles Dharapak/AP
Conservative lawyer John Eastman, who pushed a plan to overturn the 2020 election results, asked Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to put him on a pardon list following the insurrection, the House Select Committee revealed earlier this month.
“I’ve decided I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works,” Eastman wrote in an email to Giuliani. The committee read the email out loud during a June 16 hearing.
When Eastman was deposed by the committee, he ultimately pleaded the Fifth Amendment 100 times, the panel said.
Eastman did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
