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#NYC’s Ritchie Torres to push presidential pardon disclosure bill

“NYC’s Ritchie Torres to push presidential pardon disclosure bill”

Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres will introduce legislation requiring lawmakers seeking presidential pardons to disclose their requests — following allegations that some Republicans sought clemency from former President Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Torres wants a federal law on the books mandating that any member of Congress who makes a written or spoken pardon request must disclose it to the Ethics Committee. 

“The January 6 committee found that multiple members of Congress requested pardons for themselves in the wake of the insurrection,” Torres told The Post in an interview Thursday. “And the public has a right to know the identity of those members.”

The requirement would be retroactive and demand disclosure from any member of Congress who asked for a pardon — for themselves or others —  on or after Jan. 1, 2021.

Rep. Liz Cheney (WY-R) claimed last week during the kickoff of the House select committee investigating the insurrection that members of her own party sought pardons from Trump for their possible role in the events of Jan. 6.

Rep. Ritchie Torres is set to introduce a bill that would require Congress members to disclose presidential pardon requests.
Rep. Ritchie Torres is set to introduce a bill that would require Congress members to disclose presidential pardon requests.
Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Cheney named Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry as one of those members, which he subsequently called “a ludicrous and soulless lie.”

“The Congressional Republicans who incited the insurrection claimed to have done nothing wrong — but if you did nothing wrong, why would you seek a presidential pardon?” Torres said. “The act of seeking a presidential pardon in the aftermath of January 6 is a tacit admission of guilt.”

More names of members who allegedly sought pardons are expected to be revealed as the hearings progress.

Torres' bill comes after the  committee investigating the Capitol riot on January 6 claimed several lawmakers requested pardons from President Trump after the riot.
Torres’ bill comes after the committee investigating the Capitol riot claimed several lawmakers requested pardons from President Trump after the riot.
Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Scott Perry, one of the Congress members who allegedly requested a pardon, called the claim a “ludicrous and soulless lie.”
Rep. Scott Perry, one of the Congress members who allegedly requested a pardon, called the claim a “ludicrous and soulless lie.”
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Torres, who called himself an “apostle of transparency,” said the law would require members to disclose the request within a month.

“Which congressional Republicans requested pardons for themselves?” Torres asked, saying the question is floating around the House Democratic Caucus.

The freshman rep said the Capitol riot happened on his third day on the job, adding it remains “unsettling to be in a legislative body with members who might have been complicit in a violent assault on the US Capitol.”

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