Capitol riots: House Committee chair blasts Jeffrey Clark for refusing to cooperate

The House Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection is already receiving cooperation from dozens of witnesses and individuals who have come forward in revealing what they know. The bipartisan panel’s chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson, blasted former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark for his refusal to cooperate.

Last week, Thompson issued a statement following their hearing of Clark, who was a key player in the former president’s attempt to use the Justice Department to investigate his false claim of election fraud to stay in power. During his hearing with the committee, Clark refused to answer questions citing attorney-client privilege. Thompson warned Clark that he has a limited time to cooperate before the committee and the House moves to hold him in contempt.

“Mr. Clark’s complete failure to cooperate today is unacceptable,” said Thompson. “It’s astounding that someone who so recently held a position of public trust to uphold the Constitution would now hide behind vague claims of privilege by a former President, refuse to answer questions about an attack on our democracy, and continue an assault on the rule of law.”

Last month, the House had already voted to hold former Trump strategist Steve Bannon in criminal contempt for refusing to comply with the subpoena. Bannon cited being protected by Trump’s executive privilege despite no longer working for the administration during the days leading up to the insurrection. The committee subpoenaed Clark last month as well for his role in possibly overturning the 2020 election results and interrupting the transfer of power.

Meanwhile, the committee’s vice-chair, Rep. Liz Cheney, blasted Fox News host Tucker Carlson for continuously spreading conspiracy theories about the Capitol insurrection. Speaking to Chris Wallace on the network, Cheney was pressed on how some personalities such as Carlson are recently claiming that the insurrection was a “false flag” operation by the US government.

Cheney said that there was no truth to the conspiracy theories being spread around, especially among the right-wing and believers of the QAnon movement. The GOP lawmaker cited its similarity with the conspiracy theories that circulated regarding 9/11 and described the spreading of such theories as “un-American” and “really dangerous.”