Congressman Thompson said the House Select Committee plans to contact several hundred individuals.
Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s chosen Chairman of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riot, told reporters that they will seek electronic communications related to the attack. He added that they would even seek electronic communications from lawmakers.
The House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection is seeking electronic communications related to the attack, including from members of Congress. pic.twitter.com/yq2hoiZXJQ
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) August 24, 2021
When asked if the committee had interviewed any members or sent any letters, Thompson said they had not sent any information to members or anyone for that matter as of yet.
Congressman Thompson said the committee will be sending letters to telecommunication and social media companies, along with requesting phone records and other relevant documents. He stated that they have “quite an exhaustive” list of people and that there are several hundred that make up the list of individuals the House Select Committee plan to contact.
“Well, I won’t give you the names of who those individuals are. But, you know, in terms of the telecom companies, they’re the ones that, pretty much, you already know,” Congressman Thompson remarked. “The major networks, the social media platforms, those kind of things.”
If the contacted companies do not fulfill the committees request, Thompson said the panel will issue subpoenas.
The House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riot has not yet scheduled another public hearing. Thompson said the panel would make a decision on the focus of its next hearing before the end of the week.
Last week, Reuters reported that FBI “has found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was the result of an organized plot to overturn the presidential election result, according to four current and former law enforcement officials.”
Reuters wrote in the August 21 article:
“Though federal officials have arrested more than 570 alleged participants, the FBI at this point believes the violence was not centrally coordinated by far-right groups or prominent supporters of then-President Donald Trump, according to the sources, who have been either directly involved in or briefed regularly on the wide-ranging investigations.”
