The House Freedom Caucus is demanding that Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-MS) be barred from the forthcoming task force to investigate the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, arguing the top Democrat would be biased in his efforts.
In a statement released from the group on Wednesday, caucus members demanded that Thompson be blocked from the committee over a bill he introduced earlier this year that would terminate Secret Service protection for those who have been sentenced to prison after being convicted for a state or federal felony. Republicans condemned the proposal, accusing Thompson of seeking to deny protection to Trump.
Republicans then accused Thompson of continuing to defend the legislation, “even after the attempted assassination on July 13.”
As a result, Freedom Caucus members are not only demanding Thompson be blocked from the task force assigned to investigate the assassination attempt but also to be removed as the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
“His actions should invalidate Rep. Thompson from serving on the task force to investigate the attempted assassination of President Trump,” the group said in a statement. “Americans cannot trust that he will be an unbiased arbiter of the facts in the effort to get to the bottom of the greatest failure of the Secret Service in more than three decades.”
The push against Thompson comes after the Mississippi Democrat introduced legislation that would bar Secret Service protection for convicted felons and would instead place that responsibility on prison authorities.
Thompson pushed back on GOP attacks against his bill, arguing that “the so-called Freedom Caucus has the facts wrong about my legislation.”
Instead, Thompson argued Republicans “are still upset” about the work Thompson completed on the Jan. 6 committee, of which he served as the chairman and led the investigation into the Capitol riot.
“In any case, I will continue to serve as top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee because I was selected by my Democratic colleagues, not the Freedom Caucus,” Thompson said in a statement.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) announced on Monday they would be creating a bipartisan task force with subpoena authority to investigate the assassination attempt. Lawmakers are expected to vote on approving the task force on Wednesday.
The task force will be made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats, although it’s not yet clear which members will be tapped for the positions.