The January 6th Committee Members Received Pardons From Joe Biden — Who Is on the List?
"These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing."
Published Jan. 20 2025, 9:44 a.m. ET
Former president Joe Biden has been on a real clemency tour that began when he pardoned his own son, Hunter Biden, for federal felony gun and tax convictions. The reactions were mixed, with many people taking issue with the fact that Biden explicitly promised not to do that. In the wake of his decision, the public demanded that the former president extend this grace to others outside of his own family.
Biden said his reasons for doing this were rooted in the fact that his family had been targeted by President Trump, who has vowed to come after other individuals he considers to be his political enemies. They include but are not limited to the members of the January 6th Committee, who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol. They have since received pardons from Biden. Let's take a look at who was saved in the 99th hour.
Here is a list of the members of the January 6th Committee.
The committee was made up of nine members of Congress, seven of which were Democrats. They were appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy retracted his five choices. The committee was led by Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who also served as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, per CNN. The Vice-Chair was GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who would later draw much of the ire from Trump.
The rest of the committee was comprised of the following Democratic members of Congress: Rep. Adam Schiff from California, Rep. Jamie Raskin from Maryland, Rep. Elaine Luria from the Virginia Beach area, Rep. Pete Aguilar from Southern California, Rep. Zoe Lofgren from California, and Rep. Stephanie Murphy from Florida. Apart from Liz Cheney, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois was the other Republican member of the committee.
In a statement regarding the pardons, Biden said, "These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families."