Rep. Bennie Thompson, leader of the House committee investigating the Capitol incident on Jan. 6, said his panel had evidence of contacts between House members and rioters that day.
“We have a lot of information about communication with individuals who came,“ Thompson (D-MS) told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press in an interview.
Thompson added that there was no proof of House members conspiring with rioters or providing significant support – at least not yet.
“Now, ‘assisted’ means different things,“ he said. “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. We don’t have any real knowledge that I’m aware of 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, who said that several members of Congress have submitted material to his panel, stated that the committee wanted to hear from Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) about their actions, however he stated that it was unclear if his panel would or could subpoena them.
The Mississippi Democrat said that the committee is attempting to uncover more about the period that day when President Donald Trump was in the White House before issuing a public statement demanding a stop to the Capitol assaults.
“It’s about 187 minutes,” he told Todd. “We have now determined he was in the White House. We’ve determined that a number of people made attempts to contact him through his chief of staff.“
Thompson added: “The president was told, ‘You need to say directly to your people to go home, leave the Capitol.‘ And so it took over 187 minutes to make that simple statement. Something’s wrong with that.“
Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert, right after the violence, was facing major criticism and calls for her resignation.
The reason Boebert found herself being pressured to resign is connected to the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Boebart’s actions during and after the riot at the Capitol could make her career as a lawmaker a brief one.
Boebert is now facing major pushback for tweeting the location of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as lawmakers were taken to a secure location where they could shelter in place while rioters stormed the building.
Boebert accused Democrats of having their “hypocrisy” on “full display with talks of impeachment, censure, and other ways to punish Republicans for false accusations of inciting the type of violence they have so frequently and transparently supported in the past.”
While rioters stormed the Capitol, Beobert first tweeted that representatives “were locked in the House Chambers” and just moments later she tweeted that the “Speaker has been removed from the chambers.”
Boebert has dismissed accusations that she in any way endangered Pelosi’s life and stated that her tweeting was in no way noteworthy.
“[Democrats] accuse me of live-tweeting the Speaker’s presence after she had been safely removed from the Capitol as if I was revealing some big secret, when in fact this removal was also being broadcast on TV,” Boebert said.
Boebert then went on to make baseless claims about the far-left, which she said included President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
She went on to compare Black Lives Matter protests to the dangerous insurrection, calling them “the violence over the summer.”
Democratic Senator Brian Schatz responded to Boebert’s tweets late Monday night stating that lawmakers “were specifically instructed by those protecting us not to tell anyone, including our family, where exactly we were, for reasons that remain obvious.”
Schatz added that it’s not explicitly clear “to what extent the rioters were coordinating operationally with government officials,” so it’s vital that lawmakers and others are “extremely careful in this line of inquiry.”
“But we must discover which elected and appointed officials, if any, and which civil servants, were helping the coup,” Schatz added.
After the Capitol was secured Congress went back to work and certified the Electoral College votes in favor of Joe Biden.
Dozens of Republican lawmakers still objected to the votes despite what had taken place including Boebert.
On the morning of the riot, Boebert and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene called the day a “1776 moment” for Republicans.
“Today is 1776,” Boebert tweeted.
“America is depending on all of us today,” she said shortly afternoon. “This is something I don’t take lightly. I will fight with everything I have to ensure the fairness of the election.”
While Boebert was on the floor she addressed Pelosi directly and stated that she had “constituents outside this building right now.”
Boebert voice continued to rise throughout her speech. She promised her voters to “be their voice.”
On Monday, California Representative Eric Swalwell compared Boebert to a criminal. He suggested that she refrain from making any further incendiary remarks.
“Like any citizen who has committed a crime, Lauren Boebert has the right to remain silent,” he said. “I suggest that she use it.”
A petition had been circulated by the Garfield County Democrats calling for her resignation.
“[Boebert] should be removed from office before she does any further damage to our democracy,” reads the commentary from Garfield County Democratic Party Chairman John Krousouloudis and other local party leaders, the Aspen Times reported. “We can’t afford two more years of her fanning the flames of Q-Anon, Proud Boys, and other white nationalist groups.”
The Montrose Democratic Party chair, Kevin Kuns, called Boebert “Embarrassing.”
Kuns stated that Boebert has demonstrated “zero interest in upholding the Constitution and has put other people’s freedom to vote in her crosshairs by trying to overturn the results of a free and fair election.”
He added that: “Whether Boebert’s actions were willful ignorance or purposeful insurrection to overthrow a democracy, I agree with the tens of thousands of people who tweeted #ResignBoebert today — Boebert must resign. Our district deserves better.”
