• Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock
Editor's Pick

Jan. 6 committee member says pardons are unnecessary: ‘We didn’t do anything wrong’

by January 16, 2025
written by January 16, 2025

Rep. Pete Aguilar, a top Democrat who served on the congressional committee investigating President-elect Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, isn’t expecting any favors from the outgoing commander-in-chief. 

He said he thinks a preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden, protecting him from Trump’s potential retaliation, is unnecessary because the Jan. 6 committee ‘didn’t do anything wrong.’ 

‘I don’t think a pardon is necessary. I stand by the work that we did,’ on the committee, Aguilar told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday.

The California Democrat also said that he has ‘not sought a pardon,’ nor has he spoken to anyone at the White House about one. Fox News Digital reached out to Aguilar to inquire whether he would accept one, if it were granted to him, but did not hear back.   

Lawmakers who served on the House committee investigating Jan. 6 have been split about the importance of a preemptive pardon. Some fear it will set a bad precedent for future presidents and assert that the Constitution’s speech and debate clause provides adequate protection against criminal prosecutions, or civil lawsuits, over their legislative work. Others, meanwhile, have welcomed the idea of a pardon, fearing ‘retribution’ from Trump.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the former Jan. 6 committee investigating Trump, said he spoke with the White House last month about the potential of issuing pardons for lawmakers who served on the committee, and said he would accept a pardon from Biden if it were granted to him.

‘I believe Donald Trump when he says he’s going to inflict retribution on this,’ Thompson said this week. ‘I believe when he says my name and Liz Cheney and the others. I believe him.’

Other than Thompson, no other members of the committee have indicated they will accept a pardon granted to them by Biden. However, they have stopped short of saying whether they would decline one.

‘I’ve not been in touch with the White House. I’ve not sought one,’ Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who served on the committee, said Tuesday. 

‘It would be the wrong precedent to set. I don’t want to see each president hereafter on their way out the door giving out a broad category of pardons,’ Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif, who also served on the committee, said in an interview with CNN earlier this month. Former GOP Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger made the same argument as Schiff, but went a step further, saying that he did not want one.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said during a live event this week hosted by Politico that he wasn’t sure what the right call for Biden was. 

‘Different people have different feelings about the whole pardon thing because there are these outrageous threats that are being leveled against people just for doing their jobs, like Jan. 6 prosecutors at the Department of Justice,’ Raskin said. He added that ‘in a just world’ there would be no need for a pardon because the committee did nothing wrong.

‘I’m glad we’ve got a wise president with wise people around him who will be able to figure that out,’ Raskin said.  

During Biden’s final interview as president with a print publication last week, he indicated that preemptive pardons for Trump’s political foes were still under consideration. Biden also noted in the interview that he had personally urged Trump not to ‘try to settle scores’ when he met with the president-elect at the White House following his November election victory.  

Trump has referred to Thompson and other members on the Jan. 6 committee as ‘thugs’ and ‘creeps.’ During an interview on NBC’s ‘Meet The Press’ last month, Trump accused the members on the committee of destroying evidence, adding that ‘everybody on that committee … should go to jail.’

‘They lied. And what did they do? They deleted and destroyed a whole year and a half worth of testimony. Do you know that I can’t get — I think those people committed a major crime,’ Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department released a 137-page report outlining the details of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Due to Trump’s election victory, prosecutors were forced to drop the case, but the report, according to Smith, shows how Trump allegedly used ‘lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States’ democratic process.’

The Jan. 6 committee concluded its work after roughly a year and a half of investigations with a final report that determined Trump played a central role in the events that led to the siege on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and that there was enough evidence for federal prosecutors to convict him. The report included several criminal referrals that the committee ultimately passed on to the Department of Justice. 

Related Topics

Joe Biden
Trump Transition
Politics

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

previous post
‘Lying to the nation’: Trump orbit slams Biden for taking credit for ceasefire deal
next post
CLAY TRAVIS: How Trump is already narrowing America’s racial divide

related articles

Government shutdown enters 3rd day as Senate stalemate...

October 3, 2025

GOP rising star exposes how Biden admin was...

October 3, 2025

Federal judge to sentence Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s attempted...

October 3, 2025

Hawley blasts FDA approval of new abortion drug,...

October 2, 2025

Trump’s DOGE savings dwarfed by Medicare, Social Security...

October 2, 2025

FLASHBACK: James Comey urged officials to always prosecute...

October 2, 2025

The agency staff Vought might recommend cutting and...

October 2, 2025

Reagan-appointed judge, once rebuked by Supreme Court, continues...

October 2, 2025

‘Real consequences’: Food aid, flood insurance, FEMA funds...

October 2, 2025

Trump must triple severely outdated nuke arsenal to...

October 2, 2025
Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Trading Ideas, Latest News, And Articles.


Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

Latest News

  • DOGE eyes suggestions to slash federal DEI programs: report

    January 17, 2025
  • House GOP leaders privately wary of push to impeach federal judges blocking Trump agenda

    March 20, 2025
  • Trump ‘hopes’ Putin agrees to ceasefire as Moscow signals no truce yet

    March 13, 2025
  • Why Apple’s $1 billion bid couldn’t sway Indonesia’s ban decision

    January 9, 2025
  • Pentagon freezes out DC think tanks in new move, citing ‘America last’ concerns

    July 25, 2025

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Secret Service admits leaning on ‘state and local partners’ after claim it ignored Trump team’s past requests

    July 21, 2024
  • 2

    Five more House Democrats call on Biden to drop out, third US senator

    July 19, 2024
  • 3

    Elon and Vivek should tackle US funding for this boondoogle organization and score a multimillion dollar win

    December 4, 2024
  • 4

    Forex Profit Calculator: Maximize Your Trading Potential

    July 10, 2024
  • 5

    Biden calls to ‘lower the temperature’ then bashes Trump in NAACP speech

    July 17, 2024

Categories

  • Economy (829)
  • Editor's Pick (6,250)
  • Investing (634)
  • Stock (935)

Latest Posts

  • ‘Not fit to serve’: Speaker Johnson leads GOP demands for Biden to resign from presidency

    July 21, 2024
  • DAVID MARCUS: Musk’s DOGE changed the way America sees federal spending waste

    May 29, 2025
  • ‘Who wouldn’t want it?’: Netanyahu open to receiving stealth bombers, bunker-busters from US

    July 8, 2025

Recent Posts

  • Rhode Island’s ‘Taylor Swift Tax’ on vacation homes of the wealthy is spreading to other states

    September 2, 2025
  • Biden-era guidance encouraged use of Signal app by highly-targeted govt officials: ‘Best practice’

    March 25, 2025
  • Harris failing to cobble together Biden’s winning 2020 coalition: analysis

    September 6, 2024

Editor’s Pick

  • How investors can prepare for lower interest rates: It’s ‘like getting a haircut,’ advisor says

    August 24, 2024
  • Pro-life groups cautious on RFK Jr. nomination after evolving abortion views

    November 20, 2024
  • Trump revokes security clearances of 51 intel officials who signed discredited Hunter Biden laptop letter

    January 21, 2025
  • About us
  • Contacts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Disclaimer: moneyrisetoday.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

Copyright © 2025 moneyrisetoday.com | All Rights Reserved

Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock