bennie thompson
House Homeland Security Committee Chair Benny Thompson (D-MS) listens as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) discusses the formation of a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol during a news conference in Washington, U.S., July 1, 2021.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
  • Rep. Bennie Thompson said "there's no question" that the Capitol riot was premeditated.
  • Thompson, who serves as the chairman for House January 6 committee that is investigating the attack, made his remarks on CBS's Face The Nation on Sunday.
  • His comments come after the House voted to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress.

Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chair of the House committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, said Sunday that there was "no question" that the riot was premeditated during an interview on CBS's "Face The Nation."

Thompson, a Democrat, made the comments after "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan played a clip from longtime Trump ally Steven Bannon's "The War Room Podcast" dated the day before the attack. In the clip, Bannon stated "all hell is going to break loose" and "tomorrow it's game day."

A pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol on January 6 while lawmakers were meeting inside to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Prior to his supporters storming the capitol, former President Donald Trump spoke at a rally outside the White House where he continued to propagate falsehoods about the election.

When asked by Brennan if the attack was premeditated, Thompson responded: "There's no question."

"Clearly, the direction of the committee is to look at that premeditation to make sure that we identify it," Thompson said. "But the worst kept secret in America is that Donald Trump invited individuals to come to Washington on January 6."

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives voted in favor to hold Bannon in criminal contempt after he defied a subpoena calling him to hand over documentation and provide testimony related to his role in the attack, Insider's Sonam Sheth and Bryan Metzger reported.

"Steve Bannon was part of the conversation and the promotion of January," Thompson said Sunday. "The very podcast we just listened to talks about it. Steve Bannon was in the war room, and he was in the Willard Hotel, doing a lot of things, so that's why we subpoenaed him, that's why we felt it was important for the committee and staff to depose him."

On Monday, former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against the committee's subpoenas. In response, committee chairs Thompson and Vice-Chair GOP Rep. Liz Cheney released a joint statement saying Trump's "clear objective is to stop the Select Committee from getting to the facts about January 6th and his lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt to delay and obstruct our probe.

As of Sunday, nearly 700 people have been charged in connection to the Capitol riot, according to an Insider database.

Read the original article on Insider