Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) joined C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on Friday and received a lashing from callers and a quick fact-check from host Greta Brawner after Biggs flubbed a key fact surrounding the Jan. 6th prosecutions.
Biggs, who chairs the hard right House Freedom Caucus, was asked by a caller to defend former President Donald Trump’s vow to pardon Jan. 6th rioters.
“Trump wants a pardon for traitors that have been convicted of seditious conspiracy. C’mon, what the hell is wrong with you Republicans?” the caller asked through somewhat distorted audio.
“Yeah. Well, I appreciate the call, and I’m not sure I understand what you’re, what you’re saying, but, but I, I, I think you’re talking about the former president saying that if he gets elected, that he would issue some pardons or clemency to some of the people that were arrested and prosecuted on January 6th, Biggs replied, adding:
Not all were convicted of seditious treason. In fact, none were. And so that’s important to understand. The second thing I would say is many of them were convicted of misdemeanor trespass. And I think that’s important to understand as well. So I appreciate the call.
Notably, so far two trials of members of the far-right militia group, Oath Keepers, have in fact resulted in convictions on charges of seditious conspiracy.
Brawner moved on to the next call – David from Ashland, Mississippi, an independent.
“Thank you for taking my call. Yes, sir. Mr. Biggs, do you think those that conspired in the White House to overthrow the country with Donald Trump and Jeffrey Clark and all that should be held accountable? And exactly why did you ask for a pardon from Mark Meadows?” David asked.
“A, I didn’t ask for a pardon. That’s been completely debunked. But, you know, lies persist. So that’s a that’s going to happen. And I’m big enough to withstand the perpetual lie in that way,” Biggs replied.
“And the second thing is, there’s been no indication that anybody attempted to overthrow the government with somebody named Jeff Clark who whom I don’t believe I’ve ever even met. So, you know, thanks to thanks for the perpetuation of the false narrative of the left,” Biggs concluded.
“Congressman, USA Today had this headline back in November of 2022 that Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder, was found guilty of seditious conspiracy,” Brawner noted, recalling the first of the two trials.
“Oh, ok. Yeah, well, I didn’t follow that case,” Biggs quickly conceded.
“Ok,” Brawner replied.
Media reports that Biggs sought a pardon from the Trump White House in the wake of the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol were based on under-oath testimony from former Trump aides to the House Jan. 6th Committee.
