House Republicans who plotted to overturn the 2020 Presidential Election knew what they were doing was illegal, which is why they apparently sought pardons from Donald Trump after the January 6th Capitol insurrection.

The House Select Committee investigating January 6th released this stunning revelation on Thursday night during primetime coverage of the first public hearings to provide their findings to the American people.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) delivered a strong opening statement noting that Trump is the only president in American history to violate the precedent of a peaceful transition from power in order to seize absolute power for himself.

In addition, however, Cheney also revealed damning evidence against House Republicans by stating that Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and several other GOP lawmakers begged Trump to pardon them for their involvement in the plot to overturn the election.

“As you will see, Rep. Perry contacted the White House in the weeks after January 6th to seek a presidential pardon,” she said. “Multiple other Republican congressmen also sought presidential pardons for their roles in attempting to overturn the 2020 election.”

Here’s the video via Twitter:

If it wasn’t obvious before why Republicans did not support investigating January 6th, it certainly is now. Clearly, House Republicans knew several of their members would be implicated in the plot to overthrow democracy.

We already know that several House Republicans participated in organizing the events of that day. We also already know that some of them gave reconnaissance tours of the Capitol the day before January 6th so the insurrectionists could find their way to the House and Senate floors. We know that at least one GOP lawmaker live-tweeted the location of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), thus putting her life in danger. And we know that another GOP lawmaker wore body armor that day. Several even helped incite the violence.

If Republicans really believe that their actions weren’t illegal, why seek presidential pardons? This is just the first night of hearings, so we will likely hear the names of other Republicans at some point. And once all of the damning evidence is on the table, the Justice Department has a duty to act.

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