Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, said he would be fined if President Biden offered him a preemptive pardon for his role in leading the investigation into then-President Donald Trump's role in the investigation. Capitol Riots 2021he will accept it.

Thompson, chairman of the House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, embraced the idea of ​​a pardon in an interview with CBS News, saying Tuesday, "I come from a part of the country where speaking out in the past has cost you. "Your life. "

"When I hear the man who is about to be sworn in as president of the United States say he wants to lock you up for your job, I believe it," he said of Trump, now president-elect.

"So if this was something that was offered to me for Bennie Thompson, I would take it," the Democrat added, "because there are a lot of people who take this man at his word and I don't want him to weaponize the government ization to deal with those performing their duties.”

President Biden says he will continue weighing Possible sweeping preemptive pardons for prominent Trump critics and political opponents, a move that could shield them from prosecution by the incoming administration. The president did not say who might receive such a pardon.

The president-elect publicly threatened members of a now-defunct House committee.

In an interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press" last month, the incoming president accused members of the panel of destroying evidence and committing "significant crimes" during the investigation. He said "everyone" who served on the committee "should be in jail".

Asked Tuesday about Trump's claims that the committee destroyed evidence, Thompson noted that House Republicans have been investigating the select committee's work for two years. "They haven't figured anything out yet," Thompson said.

But Thompson appears to be the only member of the select committee willing to welcome a pardon before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. Several members of the group rejected the idea, arguing they did not need a pardon because they were in the process of their work.

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told reporters on Tuesday, "I support the job we're doing. We didn't do anything wrong. I don't think a pardon is necessary."

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said he didn't know what the right answer was when asked at a Politico Live event whether Biden might pardon select committee members. He argued that "in any just world" they would not need a pardon because they had committed no crime.

He also noted that the Constitution's "Speech and Debate" clause protects lawmakers from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits related to their legislative work.

Some other former members of the group discouraged the pardon.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told CBS News in December that he didn't think a blanket pardon "of any kind" was a good idea and would recommend against it.

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the panel, said on CNN this month that he did not want a pardon.

"I understand the theory behind it because Donald Trump has made it clear that he's going to go after everybody," he said. "...But the minute you get a pardon, it looks like you've committed something. I'm not guilty of anything other than telling the truth to the American people and embarrassing Donald Trump in the process "

Mr. Biden honored Mr. Thompson and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the select committee. Presidential Citizenship MedalThe second-highest civilian award was given at a ceremony at the White House this month.