The two urged their fellow lawmakers to testify: “We urge our colleagues to join the hundreds of individuals who have shared information with the Select Committee to get to the bottom of what happened on January 6th.“
In its letter to Biggs, the committee said multiple House Republican lawmakers sought presidential pardons “for activities taken in connection with President Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.” The committee cited former White House personnel — many of whom have spoken with its investigators in recent weeks — as the basis for that statement.
Biggs, a former chair of the pro-Trump House Freedom Caucus, was named as “a potential participant in that effort,” according to the committee, which said its investigators want to know about the efforts to secure pardons. Trump ultimately did not pardon any Republican lawmakers in the wake of the Capitol attack. The Arizona Republican said in a tweet he would “not be participating” with the panel.
The committee said it wanted to ask Jackson about potential contacts or knowledge of members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group. A recently revealed trove of text messages showed conversations among Oath Keepers about members of Congress, including Jackson.
“Dr. Ronnie [sic] Jackson — on the move. Needs protection. If anyone inside cover him. He has critical data to protect,” one unidentified person wrote in a Jan. 6, 2021, text message. Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, replied: “Help with what” and “Give him my cell.”
Jackson has told POLITICO he had never heard of the Oath Keepers or Rhodes before the Jan. 6 attack. In a statement later Monday, he rejected the panel’s inquiry and said he did not know or have contact with “those who exchanged text messages about me on January 6.”
“I will not participate in the illegitimate Committee’s ruthless crusade against President Trump and his allies,” Jackson said.
The panel’s ask of Brooks comes as he revealed in a March statement that the former president had floated attempts to rescind the 2020 election and restore himself to the presidency. Brooks is running in Alabama’s crowded Senate GOP primary this year, but his showing in the polls hasn’t been strong and Trump rescinded an endorsement, accusing Brooks of going “woke.”
Thompson had previously expressed some doubt about calling the Alabamian, arguing he did not want to inject the panel into a political dispute between Trump and Brooks. Nonetheless, Brooks hasn’t ruled out testifying before the select panel, saying at the end of March he’d “take that under advisement” if the committee asked him.
By the end of Monday, Brooks declined the request. He said he would have testified if it were in public, the questioners were other lawmakers and if the questions were limited to events related to Jan. 6.
“I’ve already given numerous sworn affidavits and public statements about January 6,” he said. “At this moment in time, right before an Alabama U.S. Senate election, if they want to talk, they’re gonna have to send me a subpoena, which I will fight.”
Olivia Beavers contributed to this report.
