CBS late night show host Stephen Colbert and Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made certain debunked claims about the Capitol riot during his show Tuesday night.
Ocasio-Cortez said former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had to seek a pardon because he knew he broke the law by attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. She then claimed former President Donald Trump was “willing to choke his own Secret Service” in reference to former White House aide to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Cassidy Hutchinson’s, testimony Tuesday that he grabbed service agent Robert Engel by the clavicle.
Secret Serviceman Engel and Tony Ornato allegedly involved in the incident are slated to publicly denounce the allegations that Trump either lunged for the steering wheel to veer toward the Capitol and participate in the “Stop the Steal” rally or grabbed Engel by the throat. Sources close to the matter have already debunked Hutchinson’s testimony.
Colbert then said Republicans knew they were guilty because they asked for pardons in connection to January 6th.
“What is your reaction that there is this consciousness of guilt because legally, people may not know, is it’s not just sort of a term of art to get a pardon. It is an admission of guilt,” Colbert said. (RELATED: Stephen Colbert Speaks Out On Staffers Being Arrested At Capitol)
“I think there was this awareness when this was going on,’ Ocasio-Cortez replied. “There was this great sense that there were people on the inside and we learned last week that there were one, if not more, members of Congress who brought in some of these insurrectionists to potentially case the joint before coming in the next day. And to work with people, to see them, to have them sometimes confront you, knowing that they did what they did has been quite surreal, especially when they’re not very intelligent.”
Hutchinson testified that Meadows and former Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and five members of Congress both sought presidential pardons in relation to the riot. The congressman asking about pardons included Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Louie Gohmert of Texas.
Although it is a grey area, it has been reported that accepting a presidential pardon does not pertain to the pardoned admitting guilt, according to Court Martial Law. Some pardons can be issued if believed that the individual was wrongly convicted, according to the Washington Post. Pardons typically assume that the offender was guilty of a crime and therefore a person could be denied a pardon if they do not admit their guilt, Nolo reported.
Colbert then went off of reports that Trump knew there would be violent weapons at the Capitol that day, then asked the New York representative if she believes there will be “reasonable consequences.”
“I will say, the bare minimum, those who specifically sought pardons for themselves should be expelled from the United States House of Representatives,” she said. “If you are duly elected official and in seeking a pardon as you mentioned, you are consciously admitting to committing a crime. What that means if they were willing to commit crimes in order to illegally seize power. And no person of any power, of any seat, of any party, should be willing to do that in order to undermine our democracy.”
She said the individuals need to be prosecuted in order to prove that there is rule of law in the U.S.
Ocasio-Cotez and Colbert both mentioned that lawmakers brought Capitol rioters into the building for tours the day before, including Republican Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk, who met with some constituents inside the House Office buildings on January 5, 2021. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said there was no evidence that Loudermilk entered the Capitol with that group.