The former chair of the Jan. 6 select committee said he has discussed pardons with the White House as President-elect Donald Trump threatens retribution against the panel’s Democrats.
“We had a discussion about pardons. It wasn’t a particular pardon,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said. “For me, as a member of the committee, if one is offered, I would accept it.”
Other members of the select panel said they hadn’t sought a pardon but left it up to outgoing President Joe Biden, who has floated preemptive pardons for those who might be targeted by Trump. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
“I’ve not sought one. It’s up to the president to do what he thinks is right,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.).
Though presidents may offer pardons to those who don’t seek them, Supreme Court precedent makes clear that the intended recipients can turn them down, particularly if they have other defenses they want to assert against potential federal investigations.
Another member of the panel, California Rep. Pete Aguilar, who is also a member of Democratic leadership, said he hadn’t sought a pardon but added: “I stand by the work that we did. We didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t think a pardon is necessary.”
Top Judiciary Democrat Jamie Raskin, who served on the Jan. 6 select committee, sidestepped a question at a POLITICO Live event Tuesday on whether he would want a pardon.
“Well, we don’t need a pardon in any just world, because we haven’t committed any crimes and we haven’t done anything wrong,” the Maryland Democrat said.
Trump has broadly accused the select panel of witness tampering and destroying evidence, though he has offered no proof for those claims. And some Republicans have floated creating a select panel to consolidate their investigations into the Jan. 6 attack and Capitol security — and to potentially investigate the work of the former Capitol riot panel, too. A GOP-led subpanel conducted its own review last Congress.
Punchbowl News earlier reported the conversation among former panel members about pardons.
Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.
