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Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., reacted Friday to claims he requested pardons for unspecified involvement in the Jan. 6 riot at the White House.
Perry said anyone claiming he made such a request for himself or anyone else was telling a “soulless lie.”
“The notion that I ever sought a Presidential pardon for myself or other Members of Congress is an absolute, shameless, and soulless lie,” Perry said on social media Friday.
Perry was reacting to a claim from Rep. Liz Cheney during Thursday’s Jan. 6 committee hearing that he – along with several other unspecified Republicans – requested a presidential pardon following the riots.
JAN. 6 COMMITTEE HOLDS FIRST PUBLIC HEARING INVESTIGATING ATTACK ON THE US CAPITOL
Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., makes remarks during the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol markup in Cannon Building, Dec. 1, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“As you will see, Rep. Perry contacted the White House in the weeks after January 6th to seek a Presidential Pardon,” Cheney claimed Thursday.
She went on to claim Perry was not alone, and that several Republicans made similar requests. She continued, “Multiple other Republican congressmen also sought presidential pardons for their roles in attempting to overturn the 2020 election.”
Any evidence of Perry or any other members requesting such pardons has not yet been presented.
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FILE – Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., takes a question from a reporter at a news conference held by the House Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Aug. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)
Lawmakers on the Jan. 6 committee on Thursday night said Trump “spurred a mob of domestic enemies” to attack the Capitol in an effort to “subvert American democracy” and overturn the 2020 presidential election.
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Cheney also pointed to congressional leaders who “begged” Trump for help, including Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, who was “‘scared’ and called multiple members of President Trump’s family after he could not persuade the president himself.”
“Not only did President Trump refuse to tell the mob to leave the Capitol, he placed no call to any element of the United States government to instruct that the Capitol be defended,” Cheney said. “Trump did not call his secretary of defense on January 6th. He did not talk to his attorney general. He did not talk to the Department of Homeland Security.”
Thursday’s hearing was just the first of seven televised hearings expected in the coming weeks. The next hearings have already been announced for Monday and Wednesday of next week.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
