Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent, Vermont) believes President Joe Biden should “very seriously” consider preemptively pardoning the January 6 committee members ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration.
Trump has shown interest in going after the bipartisan House select committee members who investigated the 2021 Capitol insurrection. The coup attempt was a failed effort to overturn Trump’s definitive loss in the 2020 election.
On NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday, moderator Kristen Welker asked Sanders for his thoughts on the possibility of Biden preemptively pardoning the committee members ahead of Trump’s upcoming presidency.
Sanders replied, “Well, I think he might want to consider that very seriously.”
“This is what authoritarianism is all about. It’s what dictatorship is all about,” Sanders, who may not be seeking another term in the Senate, said. “You do not arrest elected officials who disagree with you, who undertake an investigation.”
Sanders’ take comes after multiple media outlets reported earlier this month that the White House was considering giving pardons to Trump’s potential targets. Some Democrats told HuffPost at the time that they were not so keen on the idea.
Trump has indicated on numerous occasions that his second term will be — at least in part — dedicated to revenge against his political opponents. As such, he previously told Welker that he believed the Jan. 6 select committee members, including chairman Representative Bennie Thompson (Democrat, Mississippi) and vice chairwoman former Representative Liz Cheney (Republican, Wyoming), should be imprisoned.
“Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with [Chairman Bennie] Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps. ... Honestly, they should go to jail,” Trump said.
Cheney responded shortly thereafter in a statement saying his threat to imprison the committee members reflects the same disregard he had for the law during his coup attempt.
“Here is the truth: Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power,” Cheney said. “He mobilised an angry mob and sent them to the United States Capitol, where they attacked police officers, invaded the building and halted the official counting of electoral votes. Trump watched on television as police officers were brutally beaten and the Capitol was assaulted, refusing for hours to tell the mob to leave.”
“Donald Trump’s suggestion that members of Congress who later investigated his illegal and unconstitutional actions should be jailed is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic,” she added.
Aside from Cheney and Thompson, the committee also included Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.); Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.); and former Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Elaine Luria (D-Va.).