AUSTIN— Rep. Louie Gohmert was among at least six Republican MAGA members of Congress who sought preemptive pardons from former President Donald Trump to avoid criminal prosecutions for trying to overthrow the 2020 presidential election, according to sworn testimony made public by the January 6 Select Committee.

The six members named in testimony from multiple Trump White House staffers are Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania. All requested pardons from the Trump’s White House in the waning days of his presidency, according to testimony this and last week from the January 6th House Select Committee.

Common Cause Texas is calling for Gohmert’s immediate resignation.

“Those that would disrespect our Constitution and our democracy to the point of trying to overturn free and fair election results should not be allowed to continue to serve in positions of trust,” said Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause Texas. “Our country and democracy came dangerously close to being irreparably harmed on January 6. It should alarm all of us in Texas to learn that Rep. Louie Gohmert’s actions assisting Trump in his unlawful pursuit of power led him to seek a pardon.”  

Witnesses told the Select Committee that Trump considered offering pardons to a wide range of individuals connected to the President. pic.twitter.com/LRJat3Algf

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 23, 2022

The U.S. House Select Committee has held five public hearings so far, including Tuesday’s explosive testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a Trump White House aide who worked steps from the Oval Office in her role supporting Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

The January 6th hearings have provided critical information showing how coordinated the attack on January 6th was and how those in the Trump White House desperately tried to hold onto power even as they saw the U.S. Capitol under attack.

Hutchinson spent hours talking to the Congressional investigators about what she observed in the White House before and during the January 6th attack. She heard directly from several Republican MAGA Congressional members seeking pardons in the days and hours before Trump’s presidency ended, she told the committee. Her own boss, former Rep. Mark Meadows from North Carolina, asked for one as well.

 She also spoke this week about her own disgust after Trump tweeted a message denouncing Vice President Mike Pence for Pence’s steadfast refusal to comply with Trump’s illegal attempts to hold onto power. 

“It was un-American,” Hutchinson said about Trump’s instigation of the violence. “We were watching the Capitol building being defaced over a lie.”