McCarthy’s comment on Trump pardon could be key for Jan. 6 panel

Source: The Hill | April 26, 2022 | Rebecca Beitsch

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is scrutinizing one particular phrase from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) leaked calls with other top Republicans expressing concern that former President Trump would seek a pardon.

The taped recording with McCarthy, published by The New York Times, not only relays McCarthy’s assertion that Trump bore responsibility for the attack, but could also indicate his concern that some actions the former president took leading up to that day may be criminal.

“Now, this is one personal fear I have. I do not want to get into any conversation about [former Vice President Mike] Pence pardoning,” McCarthy says in the Jan. 10 recording as part of a broader conversation about Trump potentially resigning after the riot.

Experts say the committee may want to zero in on that exchange, as the audio shows Republicans at the highest level may have been worried about the legality of Trump’s actions leading up to Jan. 6.

“You would not want to be the middleman in a conversation about Trump being pardoned by Pence because [McCarthy] would be concerned about somebody saying he obstructed justice in some way,” said Jeff Robbins, a former U.S. attorney who also served as chief counsel for the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

“There’s no need to have a personal fear about being involved in a pardon conversation unless there’s been some suggestion of a conversation about a pardon. And there’s no need to have a discussion about a pardon unless people within McCarthy’s sphere are having serious discussions about Trump’s culpability in a crime,” he added.

“And there’s no need for a pardon if all you’ve done is something that is immoral or unethical or optically bad. The need for a pardon exists when there is criminal culpability.”

The conversation itself, Robbins said, suggests such questions were likely a topic of conversation among McCarthy and other high-ranking Republicans between Jan. 6 and Jan. 10.

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