Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), who led Congress' special investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, said Tuesday that he is in talks with the White House about a presidential pardon.
his comment was confirmed reportPunchbowl News reported hours earlier that Thompson had at least one conversation with the White House Counsel's Office in December about a possible pardon. He emphasized that he was not lobbying for special favors.
“It wasn't a pre-emptive strike,” Thompson said. “We talked about a pardon. It wasn't a special pardon. … As a member of the committee, I said I would accept it if it was offered.”
The pardon issue has been in the spotlight since President-elect Trump has long accused members of the Jan. 6 task force of distorting the investigation to harm his political opponents. President Trump has signaled he will punish these agents and has named several individuals in law enforcement ranks who supported false claims that Joe Biden's 2020 victory was rigged. Nominated.
Pam Bondi, nominated by President Trump to be U.S. Attorney General, vocal supporterAbout Trump's false claim that he won Pennsylvania in the 2020 election but had it “stolen” from him by corrupt Democrats.
Kash Patel, nominated by President Trump to head the FBI. accusedIt vowed to “find the co-conspirators” in the government and media who orchestrated the January 6 riot and blamed President Trump for the attack.
The combination raised concerns that the Trump administration's Justice Department would seek criminal charges against the committee members on Jan. 6, prompting Biden to issue a preemptive pardon for those members in his final weeks in the White House. A debate arose as to whether it should be given.
Still, in Mr. Thompson's meetings with the administration, he appears to be a maverick among committee members.
Several other Democratic lawmakers who helped lead the special investigation into the Capitol attack said they had not been in touch with the White House on the issue.
“I have not been in contact with the White House. I have not asked for that,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a member of the Jan. 6 selection committee, said Tuesday. “It's up to the president to do what he thinks is right.”
Another member of the committee, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), echoed that message, adding that a pardon was unnecessary given the nature of the committee's investigation.
”[I] I'm not asking for a pardon. [I] He has not spoken to anyone at the White House about the pardon. I support the work we've done. we didn't do anything wrong. I don't think a pardon is necessary,'' House Democratic Caucus Chairman Aguilar said at a press conference at the Capitol.
“Together, we will move forward in the process to shed light on what happened on January 6th, the process leading up to it, and the president's role in preventing a peaceful transfer of power,” Aguilar said. I promised that.” “That’s exactly what we did, and we stand behind that deliverable.”
“I'm not aware of any conversations with the White House about that.”
Other committee members, including former Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who currently serves in the U.S. Senate, also said they did not want a pardon, fearing it would set a bad precedent. Being abused by a future president.
“I don't want to see future presidents handing out broad types of pardons as they leave office,” Schiff told CNN last week.
