Trump told Congressional cronies how to get pardons for aiding his bogus election scheme, GOP Rep. says

Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks (pictured above) has shared an email of former President Donald Trump’s alleged instructions for Senate and House Republicans seeking preemptive pardons for their roles in helping Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The January 11, 2021 email — which Brooks addressed to then-Special Assistant to the President and Oval Office Operations Coordinator Molly Michael — begins with the line, “President Trump asked me to send you this letter.”

“It is clear that deep-pocketed and vitriolic Socialist Democrats (with perhaps some liberal Republican help) are going to abuse America’s judicial system by targeting numerous Republicans with sham charges deriving from our recent fight for honest and accurate elections, and speeches related thereto,” the email continues.

Brooks then suggested that pardons be granted to any Republican who signed onto Texas’ lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the outcome of the election, as well as any Congress members who rejected the Electoral College vote submissions of Arizona and Pennsylvania.

The email shows that Trump and Republicans had anticipated legal consequences for trying to overthrow the election. However, Trump never issued any such pardons because no Republicans were charged for their support of his bogus election conspiracy theory.

On Thursday, Cassidy Hutchinson — the aide to Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — told the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack that pardons were sought by Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz, Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Louie Gohmert, and Scott Perry. Perry denied the allegation.

On the same day, Brooks shared a letter he sent to the committee, which he called “The Witch Hunt Committee,” explaining his reasons for refusing to sit for a deposition interview.

In his letter, he falsely claimed that the committee refused to seat all of the Republican appointees that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had nominated to it. In truth, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of the five Republicans that McCarthy had suggested because those two — Reps. Jim Banks and Jim Jordan — had allegedly made comments indicating that they would sabotage the committee’s investigation, Pelosi said.

Brooks also claimed that the committee was collecting depositions in a clandestine manner in “conflict with time-honored judicial processes.” But the committee isn’t a court. It’s not pursuing charges and, thus, its depositions aren’t part of a judicial process.

Brooks said he would only agree to a public deposition limited to questions about January 6, 2021 (whatever that means), and only if any communications or documents related to their questioning were submitted to him seven days before the public disposition occurs.

Needless to say, the committee will likely continue its work without Brooks.