Donald Trump is… not taking the public hearings of the January 6 committee in the House well.
“Has there ever been a time in Congress where a Member is allowed, without any cross examination of any kind, to read lengthy and often untruthful statements, not from notes or other papers, BUT FROM A TELEPROMPTER? This is a Kangaroo Court the likes of which we have never seen in this Country!” Trump ranted on Truth Social, his alternative social media platform, this Thursday. On Thursday, the January 6 committee held a public hearing dealing with pressure imposed on officials at the Justice Department to act in support of then-President Donald Trump’s attempts to stay in power despite his duly documented election loss. Committee members were not lying.
“The only thing not discussed by the Unselects, in any way, shape, or form, is the irrefutable evidence of massive and totally pervasive ELECTION FRAUD & IRREGULARITIES which took place during the 2020 Presidential Election,” Trump added Thursday, in reference to the panel. There is no such evidence. “They refuse to go there, they want it all CANCELED, because it would be IMPOSSIBLE for the Unselect Committee to refute or challenge that which would be put before them, or the American Public. To the Unselects I ask, LET US PUT ON THE EVIDENCE, STATE BY STATE – AND NOW!” And in yet another post, Trump added the following: “What about the massive ballot stuffing shown, on Government Tape, by the highly respected and credible Patriots of Truth to Vote (2000 Mules)? I suppose that’s OK also? Such lies by the Unselects!” That did not happen.
As the Thursday hearing wound to a close, committee investigators revealed footage of testimony indicating six Republican members of Congress sought presidential pardons from Trump after the last presidential election. That list includes some familiar names: Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Mo Brooks (Ala.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Scott Perry (Pa.), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.). None of these members of Congress had actually been charged with anything related to efforts to undercut the outcome of the 2020 presidential election when they apparently went after pardons, so for them to have sought preemptive pardons suggests they were very cognizant of potential guilt on their parts. “The only reason I know to ask for a pardon is because you think you’ve committed a crime,” committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said during Thursday’s proceedings. According to Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) also brought up pardons for members of Congress, but she didn’t know him to have directly asked for one.
