OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
During the January 6 primetime hearings last week Rep. Jaime Raskin (D-Md.) asserted that there were Republican representatives who sought pardons from former President Donald Trump before he left the White House.
But when he was pressed on Sunday by CNN anchor Dana Bash on “State of the Union” he was not able to provide any evidence of it.
During the hearings Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said that after the incident at the Capitol, Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry and “multiple other Republican congressmen also sought president pardons for their roles in attempting to overturn the 2020 election.”
“I want to ask you about pardons,” the host said. “You revealed this week that multiple Republican members of Congress sought pardons from President Trump after the insurrection. How many of your colleagues in Congress did that? And what evidence do you have? Because you know that Congressman Scott Perry is denying it.”
“Yes. Well, the seeking of pardons is powerful demonstration of the consciousness of guilt, or at least the consciousness that you may be in trouble. And that’s what’s so shocking about this. It’s not just one. It’s…,” the representative responded before Bash interrupted him.
“And you have evidence that has happened?” the host said, pressing him.
But much like when Rep. Adam Schiff claimed he had evidence of Russian collusion that he still has not shown, Rep. Raskin squirmed.
“It is multiple members of Congress, as the vice chair said, at our opening hearing. And, all in due course, the details will surface,” he said.
“So, yes, there’s evidence?” the host pressed.
“We’re everything we’re doing is documented by evidence,” he said, still not directly answering if he has evidence of this particular thing. “Unlike the big lie, which is based on nonsense, as former Attorney General Barr said, everything that we’re doing is based on facts. And this is a bipartisan investigation, which is determined to ferret out all of the facts of what happened.”
Pressed by @DanaBashCNN on whether there's evidence that multiple members of Congress asked Trump for a pardon over 1/6, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) says, "…unlike the Big Lie, which is based on nonsense, as former AG Barr said, everything we're doing is based on facts." pic.twitter.com/71pJOHyqVB
— The Recount (@therecount) June 12, 2022
The congressional hearings that aired in primetime television on the incident at the Capitol that happened on January 6, 2021 were an abysmal failure.
The ratings are in and, despite being on CNN, MSNBC and just about every major network the hearings only garnered around 20 million viewers, Just The News reported.
Almost 20 million viewers tuned in for the hearings on Thursday night, according to The Hill. By contrast, President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in March pulled in 38 million viewers. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union attracted over 45 million, per the New York Post.
The 20 million figure did stand above a typical congressional hearing, The Hill noted, citing the roughly 9 million viewers for Trump’s first impeachment trial.
But considering that it was on virtually every network and in primetime those numbers are disappointing.
And it comes as one of the heads of the committee received more disappointing news.
Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney may have had her big moment on television during the primetime January 6 hearings, but that is an island of good news in a sea of news that could spell the end of her career.
She was live on Thursday night rehashing the January 6, 2021 incident at the Capitol but at the same time, she has to deal with the fact that her primary opponent, back by former President Donald Trump, Harriet Hageman is now ahead of Rep. Cheney by double digits.
A microscopic 28 percent of Wyoming voters say they would vote for Cheney, a new poll from Fabrizio, Lee & Associates showed, The Daily Mail reported.
“The survey of 400 likely Republican primary voters in the deep red state shows that 56 percent would vote for Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman over the incumbent if the election were held today,” it said.
