WASHINGTON — Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Mo Brooks of Alabama were among a handful of Republican members of Congress who sought pardons for their actions in connection with President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to testimony from former White House officials made before the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
Brooks sent a letter on Jan. 11, 2021, to the White House at the request of Trump and Gaetz asking for a blanket pardon for everyone who voted to reject the electoral college submissions from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, said in a video deposition that Gaetz and Brooks asked for blanket pardons, as did Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, and Scott Perry, R-Pa. She said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked for updates on whether the White House was offering pardons.
