Bennie Thompson

Thank you, Chairwomen Clarke and Watson Coleman, for holding today's hearing, and thank you to our panelists for being here with us.

How premeditated was this attack?

Donald Trump invited individuals to come to Washington on January 6. He said all hell would break loose.

The importance of our investigation, and the recommendations we make for legislative and other policy changes that result from our investigation, require the participation of witnesses who have clear knowledge of the events leading up to…

The vice chair of the committee put in the Record the fact that the FBI and Department of Justice declared no such thing in terms of January 6, so the assertion that somehow they have conducted an investigation is just not true. Madam…

Just for the record, again, the gentleman from Indiana referenced the whistleblower. We have not talked to the whistleblower, but we have talked to the whistleblower's lawyer. We are doing our work. So, clearly, since he is quoting…

I heard the gentleman opposing this resolution. We are not actually seeking information from Mr. Bannon because of his opinions. We issued the subpoena because we believe he has knowledge of relevant facts that we need to discover. We are…

The response by emergency management entities left people in a hopeless state.

I think everybody is open without getting ahead of it. We have to find the facts. Our committee is committed to finding the facts. If Mr. McCarthy`s information is germane to our investigation, absolutely, we will talk to him. I hope he…

This contempt process is absolutely in order, and you just can’t flaunt your nose at Congress and say, I’m not going to do it. You and I know, as well as the majority of right-thinking people you honor subpoenas. You show up and if you…

Well, he is dead wrong. But that`s not consistent with the law. Clearly, we have, as you know, the authority as a duly constituted committee to issue subpoenas. We`re doing that. We`re doing our work. And he knows it, but, you know, he has…

We need to give the American people answers about what happened. There needs to be swift accountability.

The recent withdrawal of American forces resulted in the need to quickly evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghan allies.

It`s a shame that Mr. Bannon has put us in this position. But we won`t take no for an answer. We believe Mr. Bannon has information relevant to our probe and we`ll use the tools at our disposal to get that information. Mr. Bannon stands…

If you’re thinking of following the path, Mr. Bannon has gone down, you are on notice that this is what you will face. If they fail to cooperate, we will be back in this room with a new report with the names or whoever else mistakenly…

When you think about what we`re investigating a violent attack on a seat of our democracy, perpetrated by fellow citizens on our Constitution, and attempt to stop the certification of an election. It`s shocking to me, shocking that anyone…

We take seriously the work of the committee. We have not only subpoenaed Mr. Bannon but a number of other people. Others up to this point, they have engaged the committee. We`re getting material. We are having discussions with their…

The house will vote on that, full house, on Thursday.

Steve Bannon and no other individual will take the law in their own hands. This committee will do its job.

We believe that Mr. Bannon clearly was one of the persons encouraging the insurrection to happen.

He is actually trying to thwart the process of democracy.

Mr. Bannon will comply with our investigation or he will face the consequences.

The rule of law remains under attack right now. If there are no accountability for these abuses, if there are different sets of rules for different types of people, then our democracy is in serious trouble.

It`s shocking to me, shocking that anyone would not do anything in their power to assist our investigation.

Let me start by saying that it gives me no joy that I have been forced to call this meeting. I think my colleagues feel the same way. Expectation of this committee is that all witnesses will cooperate with our investigation. Witnesses, who…