Four takeaways from the new Jan. 6 transcript dump

1. Republican senators reportedly discussed invoking the 25th Amendment in secure location during the Capitol riot

Deere testified that as the senators were sequestered in a secure location during the Jan. 6 riot, talk among many of the Republicans quickly turned to finding a way to remove President Donald Trump from office. Impeachment and the 25th Amendment were both discussed.

“The conversations shifted from debating the certification of Arizona, and establishing a commission to audit Arizona, to impeachment, talk of the 25th Amendment, and the Senators thought that any effort to mount a sustained objection to any state had ended,” he said.

STEVEN MNUCHIN TESTIFIES HE TALKED TO POMPEO ABOUT 25TH AMENDMENT DESPITE POMPEO DENIAL

Deere testified that he had gotten the information from his post-White House employer, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who was present at the discussions.

2. Johnny McEntee said that Trump asked for a blanket pardon of nonviolent Jan. 6 participants. Cipollone said no

McEntee testified that after the riot, Trump was floating around the idea of pardoning all Jan. 6 participants who didn’t commit any violence. The idea was shot down by White House Counsel “Pat” Cipollone.

“I think the president floated the idea, and Cipollone said no. One day when we walked in from — one day when we walked into the Oval, I remember it was being discussed, and I remember the president saying, well what if I pardoned the people that weren’t violent, that just walked in the building? And I think the White House counsel gave him some push back, and that’s all I really saw,” he testified.

He was unable to recall what the pushback was, but it seemed to sway Trump.

3. McEntee said Rep. Matt Gaetz asked Mark Meadows for a pardon over sex trafficking charges

McEntee testified that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) asked White House chief of staff Mark Meadows whether he could get pardoned amid a child sex trafficking investigation.

“I know [Gaetz] had asked for [a pardon], but I don’t know if he ever received one or what happened with it,” McEntee said. When asked how he knew, McEntee said, “[Gaetz] told me.”

The testimony confirms a September report that McEntee testified that Gaetz had told him he had asked Meadows for a pardon over charges that he had paid a 17-year-old to cross state lines for sexual activity. The report from the Washington Post said that Gaetz told McEntee, “He did not do anything wrong but they are trying to make his life hell, and you know, if the president could give him a pardon, that would be great.” The quote shows up verbatim in the report.

Gaetz denies ever asking Trump or the administration for a pardon for himself, telling the Washington Post through a spokesman: “Congressman Matt Gaetz discussed pardons for many other people publicly and privately at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term. As for himself, President Trump addressed this malicious rumor more than a year ago stating, ‘Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon.’ Rep. Gaetz continues to stand by President Trump’s statement.”

4. Scalia said Trump shot down post-Jan. 6 meeting of Cabinet

Scalia recommended that Trump convene a Cabinet meeting in the aftermath of Jan. 6, but the president declined to do so.

“When I spoke to the president on the 11th of January and recommended a Cabinet meeting, it was a civil, respectful conversation. He had called me because he had been told that this was something I wanted. … In terms of how he responded to the suggestion of the Cabinet meeting, he indicated that he didn’t think that would be a good thing to do,” Scalia testified.

“And he said, ‘Why don’t you just come talk to me? Let’s you and me meet,'” Scalia added. “And I said, ‘I think a Cabinet meeting would be better. I think it would be better for you to see all your Cabinet together rather than just have a one-on-one meeting.”

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“But he told me he didn’t think that was a good idea,” he said.

Scalia said he couldn’t recall the reason Trump gave, but he said he thinks it might have had something to do with the president saying they had already had their last Cabinet meeting.