Thread by @Brandi_Buchman

Coming up at 7pm ET ⤵️⤵️⤵️
Background: dailykos.com/stories/2021/1…

https://twitter.com/January6thCmte/status/1466165711554809860

For your convenience, a copy of the contempt report: scribd.com/document/54381…

Video stream is also embedded in my story for those who may want to reacquaint themselves: dailykos.com/stories/2021/1…

.@BennieGThompson kicks off tonight's hearing saying he "will support and defend the constitution of the United States," something that Clark also vowed to do once, he notes.

"What the former president's inner circle couldn't achieve with lies, a mob of rioters tried to do with force," @January6thCmte chairman @BennieGThompson says tonight.

We've heard the term contempt of congress a lot the last few weeks. We know its serious business that can land a person in serious trouble but it can sound a little abstract. So if you want to know what contempt really looks like, Thompson says, read Clark's deposition.

He hid again, and again, and again, behind his attorney's 12-page letter and vague claims of privilege. Then he said, "I think we are done" and he walked out, Thompson says.
Rosen, Donoghue cooperated with the cmte, Thompson questions why Clark can't do the same.

I got into the Clark's deposition, or, well, frankly, the lack thereof, in my report this morning:
dailykos.com/stories/2021/1…

.@BennieGThompson says the Fifth Amendment invocation is a "weighty one" and even though Clark previously had the opportunity to make claims on the record, the committee will provide Clark another chance to do so.

Thompson says he is willing to convene another deposition at which Clark can assert that privilege on a question by question basis, as the law requires.
Clark says tonight he has agreed to appear again for depo but Thompson says they will proceed tonight w/the contempt request.

Former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark has agreed to sit for another deposition with the @January6thCmte this Saturday.

Thompson is pushing the referral for contempt of congress through tonight despite Clark agreeing to sit for another deposition this weekend. Thompson says Clark "chose this path" and knew the consequences.

This committee and this House must insist on accountability in the face of that sort of defiance, Thompson said. We must honor the oath we took to support and defend the Constitution.

Jan 6 cmte vicechair @RepLizCheney on Clark's decision to invoke 5th Amendment during his upcoming deposition on Sat. She says if he thinks he will be recriminated and he wishes to provide depo utilizing 5A on that basis, the committee will consider that, Cheney says.

Cheney says Trump continues to make false claims about a stolen election, and these are the same claims he know provoked violence in the past.
He's recently said he wants to debate members of @January6thCmte, she notes.

"This committee's investigation into the violent assault on this Capitol is not a game. When this committee convenes hearings, witnesses will testify under oath," Cheney says. "Any communication Trump has with the committee will be under oath."

Cheney: "And if [Trump] insists on lying then, he will be accountable under the laws of this great nation and subject to criminal penalities for every false word he speaks."
@dailykos

And with a 9-0 vote tonight, the @January6thCmte has unanimously approved the criminal contempt of Congress recommendation for Jeffrey Clark. Next procedural stop is likely to be a meeting in House Rules before it goes to the House floor for a full vote.

Story updated after tonight's vote by the committee approving the criminal contempt of congress referral
dailykos.com/stories/2021/1…