Deplorable Ps OS:
Some members of Iowa’s Republican congressional delegation are downplaying President Donald Trump’s pardons of nearly 1,600 people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol — including 10 Iowans.
Some aren't talking about them at all.
Instead, they're diverting attention to former President Joe Biden’s sweeping pardons he issued to family members and political allies as he left the White House.
As he exited office, Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, for tax and gun crimes, and he issued pre-emptive pardons for his siblings and their spouses, Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.
A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst dismissed the need to discuss Trump's pardons at all.
“If the media was so concerned about covering pardons, why aren’t the pardons Joe Biden granted to his family and COVID Czar Fauci and the dozens of commutations of depraved murderers front-page news?” the spokesperson said in a statement.
n the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021, Ernst was much more outspoken about the violence that occurred and the need to hold those criminally responsible.
“But there can be no doubt that the violent mob who lawlessly breached the Capitol in hopes of intimidating elected officials and disrupting our constitutional duties are criminals,” she wrote in an op-ed that ran in the Des Moines Register. “Blood was shed and lives were lost because of their heinous actions. They should all be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will fight to make sure that happens.”
Back then, Ernst, who was in the Senate chamber and had to help two young pages evacuate during the riots, called the experience “horrifying.”
“It was horrifying. And I need to stress that to everybody that thinks, 'Oh, well that was OK, they just were a little exuberant,'” she told reporters Jan. 11, 2021. “No. This was anarchy.”
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who was third in line to the presidency as Senate Pro Tempore at the time of the Jan. 6 riot, was whisked out of the Senate chamber by U.S. Secret Service and moved to a secure location as the Capitol was breached.
He, too, declined to criticize Trump’s pardons.
“I think, following on the precedent of Biden, which I disagreed with, it'd be hard for me to criticize Trump,” he told reporters Tuesday.
A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who represents Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, decried violence but did not criticize Trump’s pardons.
“America’s Golden Age has begun, but of course, this is what the media is focused on — and glosses over Joe Biden’s 11th hour preemptive pardons to his family, members of Congress and staff on the Jan. 6 committee, and other allies,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “As the congresswoman has said many times, no form of violence is ever acceptable, nor should our justice system be weaponized for politics. These pardons are solely at the discretion of President Trump.”
The spokesperson also pushed back on a question about whether the decision to pardon those found guilty of violence against police undermined Republicans’ “back the blue” mentality.
“It’s ridiculous to assert that Rep. Hinson doesn’t back the blue — she has always, and will always, support our brave law enforcement officers and will work with President Trump to deliver the resources they need to keep our communities safe,” the spokesperson said.
U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, defended Trump’s decision.
“The president said what he was going to do, and the American people voted him and Republicans into power, seeing right through Democrat-led political persecution,” she said in a statement. “Just as Democrats defended Biden's recent pardons of his son and political figures — which reek of corruption — President Trump has the constitutional right to pardon whomever he chooses.
“The media and Democrats can obsess over this all they want. It didn't work in November, and it won't work now. I remain focused on supporting President Trump's agenda to deliver for Iowa and the country.”
Iowa’s U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra and Zach Nunn, both Republicans, did not respond to requests for comment from the Register.
Although many Republican members of Congress are aligned with Iowa’s delegation, a few of expressed concern about Trump’s pardons.
Some members of Iowa’s Republican congressional delegation are downplaying President Donald Trump’s pardons of nearly 1,600 people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol — including 10 Iowans.
Some aren't talking about them at all.
Instead, they're diverting attention to former President Joe Biden’s sweeping pardons he issued to family members and political allies as he left the White House.
As he exited office, Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, for tax and gun crimes, and he issued pre-emptive pardons for his siblings and their spouses, Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.
A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst dismissed the need to discuss Trump's pardons at all.
“If the media was so concerned about covering pardons, why aren’t the pardons Joe Biden granted to his family and COVID Czar Fauci and the dozens of commutations of depraved murderers front-page news?” the spokesperson said in a statement.
n the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021, Ernst was much more outspoken about the violence that occurred and the need to hold those criminally responsible.
“But there can be no doubt that the violent mob who lawlessly breached the Capitol in hopes of intimidating elected officials and disrupting our constitutional duties are criminals,” she wrote in an op-ed that ran in the Des Moines Register. “Blood was shed and lives were lost because of their heinous actions. They should all be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will fight to make sure that happens.”
Back then, Ernst, who was in the Senate chamber and had to help two young pages evacuate during the riots, called the experience “horrifying.”
“It was horrifying. And I need to stress that to everybody that thinks, 'Oh, well that was OK, they just were a little exuberant,'” she told reporters Jan. 11, 2021. “No. This was anarchy.”
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who was third in line to the presidency as Senate Pro Tempore at the time of the Jan. 6 riot, was whisked out of the Senate chamber by U.S. Secret Service and moved to a secure location as the Capitol was breached.
He, too, declined to criticize Trump’s pardons.
“I think, following on the precedent of Biden, which I disagreed with, it'd be hard for me to criticize Trump,” he told reporters Tuesday.
A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who represents Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, decried violence but did not criticize Trump’s pardons.
“America’s Golden Age has begun, but of course, this is what the media is focused on — and glosses over Joe Biden’s 11th hour preemptive pardons to his family, members of Congress and staff on the Jan. 6 committee, and other allies,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “As the congresswoman has said many times, no form of violence is ever acceptable, nor should our justice system be weaponized for politics. These pardons are solely at the discretion of President Trump.”
The spokesperson also pushed back on a question about whether the decision to pardon those found guilty of violence against police undermined Republicans’ “back the blue” mentality.
“It’s ridiculous to assert that Rep. Hinson doesn’t back the blue — she has always, and will always, support our brave law enforcement officers and will work with President Trump to deliver the resources they need to keep our communities safe,” the spokesperson said.
U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, defended Trump’s decision.
“The president said what he was going to do, and the American people voted him and Republicans into power, seeing right through Democrat-led political persecution,” she said in a statement. “Just as Democrats defended Biden's recent pardons of his son and political figures — which reek of corruption — President Trump has the constitutional right to pardon whomever he chooses.
“The media and Democrats can obsess over this all they want. It didn't work in November, and it won't work now. I remain focused on supporting President Trump's agenda to deliver for Iowa and the country.”
Iowa’s U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra and Zach Nunn, both Republicans, did not respond to requests for comment from the Register.
Although many Republican members of Congress are aligned with Iowa’s delegation, a few of expressed concern about Trump’s pardons.
Iowa Republicans in Congress downplay Trump's Jan. 6 pardons, say what about Biden?
In Iowa, 10 people who were charged with Jan. 6-related offenses are receiving reprieves from Trump.
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