Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) criticized his colleagues during the fifth public hearing by the House Jan. 6 committee on Thursday and played a clip from a deposition in which former White House aides testified that Reps. Mo Brooks (R-AL), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Scott Perry (R-PA), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) sought a pardon.
"If you’re innocent, you’re probably not going to go out and seek a pardon," Kinzinger said.
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Rep. Jim Jordon (R-OH) "talked about" pardons, but "he never asked me for one," Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows testified.
"The general tone was, 'We may get prosecuted because we were defensive of the president's positions on these things,'" she recounted. Gaetz had also allegedly sought a blanket pardon for individuals who attended a Dec. 21, 2020, meeting about the election in the White House.
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Kinzinger mentioned an email Brooks sent days after the Capitol riot in which he asked for a pardon. In his email, Brooks sought a pardon for himself, Gaetz, and members of Congress who voted against certifying electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
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Perry previously dismissed claims that he pursued a pardon from Trump and reaffirmed his position in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“I stand by my statement that I never sought a Presidential pardon for myself or other Members of Congress. At no time did I speak with Miss Hutchinson, a White House scheduler, nor any White House staff about a pardon for myself or any other Member of Congress — this never happened,” he said.
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Gohmert replied with a statement taking aim at the Jan. 6 committee's "propaganda."
"I had and have nothing for which to seek a pardon and my requests were for others unassociated with government in Washington, DC. Any assertion to the contrary is unequivocally and maliciously false. Any Committee Members or witness involved should be ashamed for perpetuating such a falsehood, but that would require a conscience to feel such shame," Gohmert said.
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Biggs accused the panel of deceptively editing Hutchinson's testimony but did not elaborate further.
"The unAmerican January 6 Committee continues to pursue me with the false allegation that I sought a presidential pardon. To the extent Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House staffer, believes I requested a presidential pardon, she is mistaken," he said. "Today's video testimony from Ms. Hutchinson was deceptively edited to make it appear as if I personally asked her for a presidential pardon."
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