Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Mark Meadows showed a 'consciousness of guilt' when allegedly seeking pardon
On The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Tuesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined the show and spoke about the January 6 Committee hearing earlier in the day. At the hearing, it was revealed that former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, along with Rudy Giuliani, asked former President Trump for pardons following the attack on the Capitol. Though asking for a pardon isn’t an admission of guilt, as accepting one is, Ocasio-Cortez believes that if they asked, that implies knowledge of guilt.
“It was just stunning. To Understand and see the detail and the depth through which there was also just a consciousness of guilt, they knew that what they were doing was wrong,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “When at the very end of this hearing you hear that Mark Meadows, the Chief of Staff to the president himself, asked for a pardon because he knew that he was breaking the law in order to seize power and undermine democracy in the United States of America, it is stunning. It is absolutely stunning.”
In the hearings last week, it was revealed that several House Republicans also allegedly asked Trump for a pardon, and Ocasio-Cortez believes they should face consequences.
“Bare minimum, those who specifically sought pardons for themselves should be expelled from the House of Representatives,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “If you are a duly elected official and, in seeking a pardon, as you (Colbert) mentioned, you are consciously admitting a — you are admitting to committing a crime.” She later added, “That’s just the bare minimum. I do believe that many of these individuals need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in order to establish and to prove to ourselves and to the world that there is rule of law in the United States of America.”
Video Transcript
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: It was just stunning to understand and see the detail and the depth through which there was also just a conscientiousness of guilt. They knew that what they were doing was wrong.
- Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Tuesday where she spoke about former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. It was revealed in the January 6th hearing earlier in the day that Meadows, along with Rudy Giuliani, allegedly sought pardons from former President Trump following the insurrection at the Capitol.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: When, at the very end of this hearing, you hear that, Mark Meadows, the chief of staff to the president himself, asked for a pardon because he knew that he was breaking the law in order to seize power and undermine democracy in the United States of America, it is stunning.
- Though simply asking for a pardon isn't an admission of guilt in the eyes of the law, accepting one is. Several House Republicans also allegedly asked Trump for a pardon, and Ocasio-Cortez believes they should face consequences.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Those who specifically sought pardons for themselves should be expelled from the United States House of Representatives.
[CHEERING]
Many of these individuals need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in order to establish and to prove to ourselves and to the world that there is rule of law in the United States of America.
- One of those who allegedly sought a pardon is Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who Ocasio-Cortez has had issues with in the past, and she took a not so veiled shot at Greene and other Republican members of Congress.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: To work with people over the last year, to see them, to have to have sometimes them confront you, knowing that they did what they did has been quite surreal, especially when they're not very intelligent.
[LAUGHTER]
