(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chaired the Democratic January 6th Commission, has said that he’ll accept a preemptive pardon from outgoing President Joe Biden if offered one.
“I believe Donald Trump when he says he’s going to inflict retribution on this. I believe when he says my name and Liz Cheney and the others. I believe him,” Thompson told Punchbowl News on Monday night. Cheney was his vice chair.
NEW: Bennie Thompson talked to White House counsel last month about a pre-emptive pardon, said he will accept one if offered.https://t.co/bk9ZxzLcpb
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) January 14, 2025
Thompson’s remarks come on the heels of House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight Chair Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., revealing that the Jan. 6th Commission destroyed evidence and engaged in witness tampering.
According to a report from Loudermilk’s committee, Thompson and Cheney failed to turn over video recordings of witness interviews and depositions despite using these recordings in their high-profile, primetime hearings.
The subcommittee also found that Cheney secretly communicated with the J6 Commission’s “star witness,” Cassidy Hutchinson, and may have pressured her to fire her attorney. Additionally, Hutchinson was caught changing her testimony during the course of the Jan. 6 Committee hearings, as has been widely documented.
Loudermilk has called for the FBI to investigate Cheney.
“Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” his committee’s report said.
Biden, for his part, told USA Today last week that he’s still considering whether to preemptively pardon the likes of Cheney before Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. The lame-duck President said he spoke about the issue when he met with Trump at the White House last month.
“I tried to make it clear that there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores,” Biden said in an interview USA Today published last Wednesday.
According to Biden, Trump didn’t give a direct response to his advice. “He didn’t say, ‘No, I’m going to…’ You know. He didn’t reinforce it. He just basically listened,” Biden told USA Today.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
