House Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said Thursday on CNN that they have evidence to back up everything presented during tonight’s hearing on their investigation into the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
When asked what he felt was the biggest news from the hearings, Thompson said, “A lot of the organizing aspect of January 6.”
Anchor Jake Tapper said, “The Proud Boys, The Oath Keepers.”
Thompson said, “That is right, offline. You know we saw them in the midst of the insurrection, but we didn’t see what they were doing organizationally before. So we showed the meeting on [January 5] in the parking lot with a group normal they don’t.”
Tapper said, “Two rival far right-wing groups meeting, breaking bread. I wonder about The Proud Boys and The Oath Keepers. You convincingly made the case that Trump was good for their membership. You convincingly made the case they were there. They thought because Trump told them to be there to undermine the election, to stop the Electoral count vote. Are there going to be witnesses that describe actual conversations between these extremist groups and anyone in Trump’s orbit?”
Thompson said, “Yes.”
Tapper said, “There will be?”
Thompson said, “Yes. Obviously, you’ll have to go through the hearings, but we have a number of witnesses who come forward that people have not talked to before. It will document a lot of what was going on in Trump’s orbit while all of this was occurring.
Tapper said, “So it’s not just happenstance they were there. They were encouraged directly by people around.”
Thompson said, “Everything that the public heard tonight is factual. We can prove it. As you know, the fact-checkers look at everything that was presented. We made a conscious effort to only put on what we could prove.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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