Rep. Thompson confirms insurrectionists had communications with members of Congress
Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson said there'd be "no reluctance" to subpoena lawmakers who don't cooperate with the committee.
The chair of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, confirmed to MSNBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview Sunday that the committee has received information that insurrectionists communicated with members of Congress.
“Have you seen any evidence, or do you have any indication that maybe members of Congress assisted any of the rioters on that day,” Todd asked on Meet The Press, per Mediaite.
“Yes,” Thompson replied.
“We have a lot of information about communication with individuals who came,” he added. “Now, ‘assisted’ means different things. Some took pictures with people who came to the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally. Some, you know, allowed them to come and associate in their offices and other things during that whole rally week. So, there’s some participation.”
The Democratic lawmaker noted, “We don’t have any real knowledge that I’m aware of people giving tours. We heard a lot of that, but we’re still, to be honest with you, reviewing a lot of the film that the House administration and others have provided the committee.”
Thompson said the Jan. 6 committee has heard from some members directly while others have been referred by other members of Congress. He added that there would be “no reluctance” to subpoena members who fail to cooperate with the bipartisan panel.
As recently reported, the committee is planning to go public with its findings after more than six months of investigation, which included interviewing more than 300 witnesses and collecting tens of thousands of documents related to the “Stop the Steal” event, which took place on January 6.
The rally was organized by former president Donald Trump and his supporters, who claimed that Democrats had stolen the 2020 presidential election. The attack occurred on the day that Congress was constitutionally bound to certify the results of the election. After the rally ended, hundreds of Trump devotees stormed the U.S. Capitol building.
The incident, which has been dubbed the Capitol insurrection, resulted in more than 700 people’s arrests and five deaths in connection with the attack.
According to The Washington Post, 225 people have been charged with assault or resisting arrest. More than 75 have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon against police officers. The report notes that the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. has said that 140 police officers — including Capitol police and D.C police — were victimized on that day.
Ten people were charged with assaults on members of the media, 640 people have been charged with entering a restricted federal building or its grounds, and 75 were charged with entering a restricted area with a deadly weapon.
The attack caused more than $1.5 million in damages to the historic building.
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