David Thomas: “I will try to explain some of the arguments that have been made, because frankly, they have been factually wrong. I do…”

“I will try to explain some of the arguments that have been made, because frankly, they have been factually wrong. I do not want anyone who is listening to the debate to believe that the statements that have been made, because they are not challenged, means that they are correct. They are not. Mr. Speaker, the Orange County district attorney subpoenaed the Hermandad records, but as we know, when that subpoena is used as a criminal subpoena there is a fourth amendment search and seizure right, so you have to specify exactly what it is that you need. As a matter of fact, the Orange County district attorney has indicated that not all of the records and not all of the materials were obtained with the subpoena that he placed. The reason that the committee placed a subpoena on top of the Orange County district attorney's subpoena was that that subpoena was being challenged. We wanted to make sure that those records were not lost. There are additional records out there. This subpoena, under the civil section of the statute, can obtain that additional material. Our job is to get to the bottom of it. We want to know everything that Hermandad was involved with. Obviously, during debate on the resolution, I believe when I describe Hermandad, it will be a slightly different organization than has already been explained. These people have violated the law.”