Former members of the Jan. 6 Committee, who spent almost two years trying to prove that President Donald Trump incited an insurrection on that day in 2021, may be in for a jarring reality check within the coming weeks – despite their presidential pardons. House Republicans will establish a subcommittee that will, in the words of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), “uncover the full truth that is owed to the American people” about events before, during, and after the massive demonstration in Washington, DC. One GOP representative says some of the original Jan. 6 committee members should expect to be subpoenaed.
While the first select committee investigating the Jan. 6 protest was formed within the scope of the House Oversight Committee, the new body will draw from the Judiciary Committee. That is a sign that Republicans mean business. The subcommittee will be chaired by Georgia Republican Barry Loudermilk, one of the most vocal critics of the Democrat-controlled probe into Jan. 6.
Perhaps this was an inevitable turn of events – and, many would argue, a necessary process to put right a disgraceful injustice. But maybe it was unwittingly hastened into being by the man who recently vacated the White House.
Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons to the members of the defunct Jan. 6 committee seemed to be a manifestation of spite. Protecting the Democrats (and two Republicans) who had hounded Trump and his supporters from July 2021 until Jan. 2023 with one of the most partisan investigations in American history was a final poke in the eye of the incoming president.
Biden could have left well enough alone. After all, no one on the Jan. 6 committee had committed a criminal offense – so it has been claimed, even though certain Republicans are adamant they have proof the committee destroyed or withheld evidence. But the then-outgoing president couldn’t help himself, it seems. And those pardons may well have spurred House Republicans to move quickly to relitigate the whole affair.
Jan. 6 Committee on Notice
“Buckle up,” Republican Rep. William Timmons of South Carolina said during a Jan. 23 interview, “because we’re going to get to the bottom of … the nonsense select committee for January 6 … There’s a reason that everybody on that committee was pardoned. It’s because they were not telling the truth. They were lying to the American people.” In its ruling on the 1886 case Ex parte Garland, The United States Supreme Court acknowledged the broad – almost limitless – pardoning power of the president. However, the Court also affirmed that a presidential pardon can be granted at any time after the commission of an offense.
It is reasonable to argue, then, that a president granting someone a pardon is admitting that the someone in question – even though no criminal charge may have been brought against them – has already done something for which they could be charged. Why pardon someone who is innocent, one could ask? To be fair, this is still a bit of a grey area, but the basic idea of a pardon, as the word itself suggests, is to absolve someone of a transgression already committed.
Rep. Timmons continues, “Look, we all know that what happened on January 6 four years ago was bad – it was awful.” Many would dispute the “we all know” part, but even Republican politicians (most of them) feel the need to engage in the expected pearl-clutching over what transpired. “A number of people assaulted law enforcement. That’s unacceptable. But the narrative that the Democrats have had for the last four years is not true – it’s false.” And Timmons wasn’t done:
“They embellish, they lie, and we’re gonna show them exactly what happened. We’re going to get to the bottom of it and we’re gonna find out why President Biden pardoned all of the members of the January 6 Committee. And guess what? Because they’re pardoned, they don’t have an excuse not to come in and testify before us. So, we’re going to get to the bottom of this. Particularly the members that are no longer in office. Expect a subpoena soon.”
Biden’s pardons might cover anything done during the initial Jan. 6 investigation, but they won’t cover defying the subcommittee’s subpoenas or lying under oath during testimony after the fact. They can still be referred to the Trump Department of Justice for possible criminal charges if they do either of those things. It could turn out that Biden’s pardons may have hurt the members of the Jan. 6 Committee far more than Trump.