(NEW YORK) — Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s surprise visit to Kyiv is “yet another sign of a very very strong support that Ukraine has in the United States,” calling it “symbolic” and “a special delight” to see her meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Overnight, Pelosi led a surprise congressional delegation to Kyiv and met Zelenskyy after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with the Ukrainian leader last week.
“We believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom,” Pelosi said in a video posted by Zelenskyy on Twitter early Sunday morning.
The trip comes just days after President Joe Biden announced his request for Congress to approve a $33 billion in supplemental aid to Ukraine.
“There appears to be support for that $33 billion aid package. What more do you need?” ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos asked the ambassador.
“We need all the assistance we can get in defensive weapons, in military support, in financial support, but also in humanitarian support. And I think this request covers all of these areas,” she said.
“We feel and we know that Americans are our brothers and sisters in this fight for freedom for democracy and as we are about to review here in the United States the next package of support to Ukraine, which President Biden submitted recently to Congress, I believe it’s very symbolic that Speaker Pelosi visited Ukraine,” she added.
The president’s aid request has received some bipartisan support. Speaking to Stephanopoulos on Sunday morning, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said he expects Congress to approve it quickly but expressed disappointment that the legislature is not in session and can’t move more quickly.
“If I were speaker for a day, I’d call Congress back into session, back into work as we’re not — we won’t be in session next week. But every day we don’t send them more weapons is a day where more people will be killed and a day where they could lose this war,” he said.
Russian leaders have been ramping up the rhetoric and nuclear threats in recent days as Russian President Vladimir Putin has intensified his military’s attacks in the southern and eastern regions.
When pressed by Stephanopoulos on whether Putin has turned the tide in the war, Markarova said Russia has yet to fulfill “any of the objectives that they have declared.”
“They are trying to scare Ukrainians, they are trying to scare the world, but the fact and the truth is that Ukrainians are not afraid and our president and all Ukrainians are bravely defending our country — and the world is not afraid,” she said.
Stephanopoulos continued: “We’re now on the third month of this war. When this begun, did you believe it’d go on this long?”
“Well, you know, this attack from Russia, our country experienced for the past 400 years,” Markarova said. “Sometimes, it was full fledge wars like now. Sometimes it was occupations and oppressions. So, this is not something unfamiliar to us. But I think it has been an eye-opening two months for the world.”
“So, of course, we are trying and we are doing everything possible on the battlefield but also on the diplomatic front to stop this war as soon as possible,” she added, “But as this war was started by Russians, it has to be ended by Russians. And we really hope that they will make their decision faster.”
(NEW YORK) — Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said the costs of the war in Ukraine include global food and fertilizer shortages, impacting prices for consumers and farmers around the world.
“It is just another catastrophic effect of Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Power told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.
Food prices have risen 34% compared to this time last year, Power said, “aided substantially, again, by this invasion.”
On Thursday, President Joe Biden asked Congress to consider supplying Ukraine with an additional $33 billion aid package, with $3 billion allocated for humanitarian assistance and food security funding.
“We’ve gone to Congress asking for a substantial increase in humanitarian assistance…in order to be able to meet those needs,” Power said. “But we’re also active, of course, in more than 80 countries around the world. … We’re working with farmers to also increase their production so that you actually have more supply brought on market.”
“But we really do need this financial support from the Congress to be able to meet emergency food needs,” she later added, “so we don’t see the cascading deadly effects of Russia’s war extend into Africa and beyond.”
Russia and Ukraine are mass producers of wheat and grain. Power said Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East may rely on upwards of 80% to 90% of wheat and grain imports from the countries at war.
Not only are there food shortages globally, but there is also a growing demand for fertilizer from farmers looking to protect their crops.
“Fertilizer shortages are real now because Russia is a big exporter of fertilizer. And even though fertilizer is not sanctioned, less fertilizer is coming out of Russia,” Power said. “As a result, we’re working with countries to think about natural solutions like manure and compost. And this may hasten transitions that would have been in the interest of farmers to make eventually anyway.”
Stephanopoulos pressed: “Listening to you lay out these consequences, it’s hard not to conclude that in some respects this has already become something of a world war.”
“Certainly in terms of effects, not confined to the horrors that the Ukrainian people are suffering,” Power responded.
Power pushed back on the idea that high food prices are due to the Biden administration’s sanctions on Russia, saying instead it’s the result of Russia’s “unwillingness now to come to the negotiating table.”
“That is what is causing these cascading effects,” she said, “so we want to meet those effects, but continue to ensure that that pressure is put on the Russian Federation through economic sanctions and through the security assistance so that they finally negotiate a peace.”
Power, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Ukraine’s European neighbors are handling the influx of Ukrainian refugees “remarkably well,” and the dire situation within Ukraine’s borders is where the greatest hardship is.
“I think the bigger challenges lie within Ukraine,” Power said. “It goes without saying that in places like Mariupol that haven’t been reached by meaningful humanitarian assistance in two months, where you have people dying of starvation, of dehydration,” she said.
“You’ve seen images this week of babies who are wearing diapers that are plastic bags taped together as diapers and women so cold that they’re in that steel plant wearing the uniforms of steel plant workers, shaking, having been injured, no access to trauma care,” she added. “I mean, those are the true horrors that are being perpetrated right now.”
(NEW YORK) — Broad Republican advantages in trust to tame inflation and handle crime are keeping the party in a strong position for the 2022 midterm elections in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, albeit off the historic peak in vote preference the GOP attained last fall.
Americans trust the Republican Party over the Democrats to handle inflation, by 19% points; the economy more generally, by 14 points; and crime, by a dozen points. Trust in the Republicans to handle crime is its highest (by a single point) in ABC/Post results back 32 years; trust on the economy, just slightly off its high two months ago.
On the Democratic side, Joe Biden’s job approval as president remains underwater, but with a 5-point gain since February, aided by better ratings for handling the coronavirus pandemic (+7 points) and the war in Ukraine (+9). Still, 52% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s performance overall, versus 42% who approve. Those who “strongly” disapprove outnumber strong approvers by a 2-1 margin, potentially indicating motivation to vote in the fall.
Moreover, with inflation its highest in 40 years, Biden’s rating for handling inflation is dramatically bad in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates: 68% of Americans disapprove. Fewer but still 57% disapprove of his work on the economy more broadly.
Looking to November, registered voters divide essentially evenly between Democratic and Republican candidates for Congress, 46-45%. That’s a comedown for the GOP from its lead of 7 points in February and 10 points last November — the latter, the largest Republican midterm advantage in ABC/Post polls back 40 years. The change is led by a close contest among political independents, swing voters in most national elections, from a 50-32% Republican lead in November to an even 42-42% now.
That said, a close overall division in congressional vote preferences among registered voters in pre-election polls historically has been sufficient to signal strong Republican outcomes. That was the case in 2010, when the GOP gained 63 seats in the House; and 1994, when it gained 54 seats. (Less so in 2014, but still a 13-seat GOP win.)
Inflation
Inflation is a major irritant. Half of Americans are concerned about it; an additional 44%, not only concerned but upset about it. Just 6% are unconcerned.
Views on inflation are associated with partisanship and vote preferences. Among registered voters who are upset about inflation (disproportionately Republicans), GOP House candidates lead their Democratic opponents by 63-26%. Among those who are concerned but not upset (plus the few who are unconcerned), this reverses to 62-30% for the Democrats.
In another economic indicator, with unemployment nearly back to its pre-pandemic level, Americans by 50-43% think good-paying jobs are easy to find in their community. That doesn’t help the Democrats, though, because registered voters who say good jobs are available in their area favor Republican candidates by a 10-point margin. And comparatively few people are looking for jobs, while everyone’s paying higher prices.
Issues
While the GOP leads on the economy and crime, the parties are essentially tied on the issue of immigration and close in trust to handle education. The Democrats have a lead on abortion (+10 points), worth watching as the Supreme Court readies a ruling on a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The Democratic Party vaults to extensive leads on two other issues, both related to social equity: Equal treatment of racial and ethnic groups, on which it’s trusted over the Republican Party by 52-31%; and equal treatment of groups regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, a 55-26% Democratic advantage.
Among groups, women generally are more apt than men to trust Democrats on the issues tested; in one example, the Republican Party has a 56-29% lead on the economy among men, compared with a split, 44-43%, among women. Similar to men, whites trust the GOP on the economy by 30 points; people in racial and ethnic minority groups favor the Democrats, but by a slimmer 11-point margin. Independents tilt Republican by 16 points; 15% of independents volunteer that they don’t trust either party on the economy.
Biden
Biden’s approval rating does not place him in enviable company. Only one previous president at about this point in office had higher disapproval — Donald Trump, at 56% — in polls dating to the Truman administration. (Four of his 13 predecessors have had about Biden’s level of approval).
Looking at it another way doesn’t offer Democrats any more encouragement. While Biden’s standing just ahead of the November election remains to be seen, it’s currently similar to Trump’s going into his first midterm (40%; his party lost 40 seats). It’s worse than Barack Obama’s approval in October 2010 (50%, loss of 63 seats); Bill Clinton’s in 1994 (48%, loss of 54 seats) and Ronald Reagan’s in 1982 (49%, loss of 26 seats). The exception is Jimmy Carter, who lost fewer seats, but still 15, in his first midterm, with 49% approval. There’s time, of course, for Biden’s approval rating to change.
Specifically on the economy, Biden’s poor rating is essentially unchanged from February; it includes a 25-point deficit among independents. In terms of his even worse rating on inflation, 38% within his own party disapprove, as do 42% of liberals, a stalwart Democratic group. Disapproval on inflation rises to 65% among moderates, 74% among independents and nine in 10 Republicans and conservatives alike.
Again, given low unemployment, Biden does less poorly — but not well — on creating jobs; 41% approve, 46% disapprove. His rating is similar on handling the war in Ukraine, 42-47%, approve-disapprove. In this case, while still underwater, approval is up 9 points since February, with a corresponding drop in those with no opinion. Disapproval is unchanged.
Biden peeks above 50% on handling one remaining issue tested in this survey, the pandemic: Here he has a 51-43% approval rating, a turnaround from 44-50% as the Omicron variant raged two months ago.
Overall, as mentioned, Biden’s general job approval rating is up 5 points, to 42%, from his low as president in February. That includes his best rating among Hispanic people (62% approve) since just after he took office and +9 points since February among urban residents.
Methodology
This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone April 24-28, 2022, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 1,004 adults, including 907 registered voters. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions in the full sample are 29-25-40%, Democrats-Republicans-independents, and 30-26-38% among registered voters.
The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates with sampling and data collection by Abt Associates. See details on the survey’s methodology here.
(WASHINGTON) — In a rare show of emotion at the Pentagon, press secretary John Kirby choked up discussing Russian President Vladimir Putin and alleged Russian atrocities in Ukraine during a briefing with reporters Friday.
It began when Kirby was asked whether he believes Putin is a “rational actor.”
“It’s hard to look at what he’s doing in Ukraine, what his forces are doing in Ukraine, and think that any ethical, moral individual could justify that. It’s difficult to look at the –” Kirby said, cutting off his sentence as he looked away to collect himself.
After eight seconds of silence behind the podium, he continued.
“Sorry,” he said. “It’s difficult to look at some of the images and imagine that any well-thinking, serious, mature leader would do that. So, I can’t talk to his psychology, but I think we can all speak to his depravity.”
Later in the briefing, he apologized for the charged moment.
“I didn’t mean to get emotional, I apologize for that. I don’t want to make this about me. But I’ve been around the military a long, long time and I’ve known friends who didn’t make it back. It’s just hard,” Kirby said.
Kirby then redoubled his attack on Putin and the brutality he said has been carried out by his military — accusations the Russians deny — his demeanor visibly shifting from sorrowful to indignant.
“It’s hard to square his, let’s just call it what it is, his BS – that this is about Nazism in Ukraine, and it’s about protecting Russians in Ukraine, and it’s about defending Russian national interests, when none of them, none of them were threatened by Ukraine,” he said, slamming his right hand to the podium to emphasize the final words.
“It’s hard to square that rhetoric by what he’s actually doing inside Ukraine to innocent people. Shot in the back of the head, hands tied behind their backs. Women, pregnant women being killed. Hospitals being bombed. I mean, it’s just unconscionable. And I don’t know … I don’t have the mental capacity to understand how you connect those two things. It’s just beyond me,” he said.
He closed with a final apology.
“I’m just a spokesman,” he said. “I’m not qualified to make an assessment one way or the other, and I do apologize for injecting my personal perspective here.”
(WASHINGTON) — In closed-door testimony to House investigators released on Friday, Dr. Bob Redfield, former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, former President Donald Trump appointees repeatedly blocked his public health experts from briefing the American public.
Redfield described, in detail, efforts by the CDC to speak publicly on what it knew about COVID and how people could stay safe.
“They would not clear our briefings,” Redfield said, according to written excerpts of the interview. “This is one of my great disappointments. That HHS basically took over total clearance of briefings by CDC.”
Further, Redfield said he believed the consequences of CDC’s inability to provide information to the public during that period, impacted the trust of the American public on the agency.
He called his replacement, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, after she was picked for the job, and promised he would never jump on the evening television shows and criticize her.
“I called her when she got nominated. The one thing she wasn’t going to hear from me was public criticism. I got it every night from my predecessors on the nightly news. I said I’m not going to do that to you. That is tough job. I’m here to help. Call me if you can,” Redfield said.
Prior to Redfield’s comments, last week, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report detailing accusations from staffers of political interference against the agencies within HHS, including the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.
Interviewees reported, through a confidential hotline, that they had witnessed instances of political interference occur, but did not report them for various reasons, including fear of retaliation, a lack of knowledge on how to report the issues, or a belief that their leaders were already aware of the issues.
Some respondents from the CDC and FDA said they felt that the potential political interference they observed, had resulted in the “alteration” or “suppression” of scientific findings. Other interviewees reported that they believed the potential political interference that they had witnessed, may have resulted in the “politically motivated alteration of public health guidance or delayed publication of COVID-19-related scientific findings.”
In one instance, in May 2020, a senior official from the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response claimed that HHS retaliated against him for disclosing “concerns about inappropriate political interference to make chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine available to the public as treatments for COVID-19,” GAO officials wrote in the report.
The report, which stated that the agencies had not reported any formal internal allegations of potential political interference from 2010 through 2021, found that the federal health agencies do not have appropriate procedures in place that “define political interference in scientific decision-making.” Although all four agencies train staff on some scientific-integrity-related topics, the NIH is the only agency that provides guidance on political interference.
According to GAO officials, who concluded their audit through April 2022, HHS concurred with the recommendations to develop procedures and training for reporting these allegations of political interference.
(WASHINGTON) — Federal prosecutors on Friday secured a second guilty plea and cooperation deal with a member of the Oath Keepers militia group charged in the government’s seditious conspiracy case stemming from the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Brian Ulrich, of Guyton, Georgia, admitted on Friday that he was part of the group of Oath Keepers that was seen during the riot ascending the east steps of the Capitol in a military-style “stack” formation.
The 44-year-old pleaded guilty to two felony charges of seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding, both of which carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000. As outlined in his plea, Ulrich’s estimated offense level carries a sentencing range between 63-78 months, though the government could recommend a lesser sentence based on the extent of his cooperation.
As part of his plea deal, Ulrich agreed to provide “substantial cooperation” to the government, including testifying before a grand jury and at trial, as well as sitting for additional interviews with the government if they request it.
As D.C. district judge Amit Mehta read off the terms of his plea, Ulrich became emotional, his voice cracking as Mehta described the potential time in prison he could face at sentencing.
Mehta at one point asked Ulrich if he wanted to take a break to compose himself.
“It’s not going to get any easier,” Ulrich responded.
He could be heard weeping over the teleconference line several times through the remainder of the hearing.
In a filing released Friday, Ulrich acknowledged using the Signal app to send private messages to other members of the Oath Keepers regarding their plans to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president in favor of then-President Donald Trump.
“I seriously wonder what it would take just to get every patriot marching around the capital armed?” Ulrich messaged on Dec. 5, 2020. “Just to show our government how powerless they are!”
Ulrich also admitted he traveled to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 4 with the knowledge that other members of the group had stored firearms at a hotel in Virginia, where prosecutors say a number of Oath Keepers were stationed on Jan. 6 as part of a heavily armed “Quick Reaction Force” in case the group wanted to transport weapons into the city.
Ahead of his trip, Ulrich said he purchased tactical gear and other equipment, including two-way radio receivers, which he carried with him inside the Capitol.
At the start of the assault on the Capitol, Ulrich said he and other Oath Keepers members were at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. When they saw news reports of the mob breaching police lines, the group gathered their gear and raced to the Capitol on golf carts to join the attack.
In the days after Jan. 6, Ulrich continued to communicate with other Oath Keepers on Signal, saying in one message that he and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes needed to “stay below the radar,” according to prosecutors.
Ulrich’s plea follows a similar agreement prosecutors reached last month with Joshua James, a member of the Oath Keepers’ Alabama chapter who admitted to providing security for former Trump adviser Roger Stone on the day before the riot.
There are nine remaining Oath Keepers members facing seditious conspiracy charges, including Rhodes — all of whom have pleaded not guilty and have vowed they will fight the charges at trial.
“Do you agree with that statement [in your plea agreement] that you agreed with Mr. Rhodes and others to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power?” Mehta asked Ulrich Friday.
(WASHINGTON) — With power players flocking to a crowded Washington hotel ballroom for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday, many itching to mingle after a two-year COVID-induced hiatus, the virus appears to be creeping closer to the gala’s star guest — President Joe Biden — with a positive test for a top aide on Friday.
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield is the latest in Biden’s inner circle — following Vice President Kamala Harris — to test positive for COVID this week, tweeting on Friday that she last saw the president two days before in a “socially-distanced meeting while wearing an N-95 mask.”
This morning, I tested positive for COVID-19. I last saw the President Wednesday in a socially-distanced meeting while wearing an N-95 mask, and he is not considered a close contact as defined by the CDC.
Saturday’s event now coincides with concerns it could become a superspreader like the Gridiron Club Dinner, after which at least 72 attendees reported testing positive. Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, dropped out of the dinner earlier this week — citing his individual assessment of his own personal risk CNN first reported — while White House COVID coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha has said it should go forward.
“These are the strategies we have learned over the last two years, and if we implement them, do I think it’s safe for people to gather together indoors? Absolutely,” Jha said earlier this month on “Fox News Sunday.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked Wednesday about the discrepancy between Biden and Fauci’s plans and whether there’s concern Biden would be considered as “not following the science.”
“Every individual will make their own decisions about whether they attend this event, other events, whether they wear a mask at it or not,” Psaki said, noting the COVID protocols in place for guests.
“He [Biden] has made the decision he wants to attend, in a safe way, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to show his support,” she continued. “That does stand in stark contrast to his predecessor, who not only questioned the legitimacy of the press on a nearly daily basis, but also never attended the dinner, I don’t believe.”
Unlike former President Donald Trump, who notably skipped the event while in office, Psaki said Americans can have eyes on Biden for what she called “his roasting, where he will be on the menu, as he likes to say, when Trevor Noah is speaking.”
She also stressed that Biden, who is also slated to deliver a routine of his own, is taking extra precautions like skipping the dinner portion of the event. She said she expects he’ll be at the event “for about an hour or 90 minutes.”
“He’s not attending the dinner portion. He’s coming for the program. So and he will likely wear a mask when he’s not speaking,” Psaki said on Friday. “And then he’s of course sitting on the dias up in the front of the interaction and is not attending any of the receptions.”
She added that Biden tested negative on Thursday, “but I don’t have anything to predict in terms of the future,” she said.
Asked what to expect from his remarks, Psaki said, “The president has a very good sense of humor and is working hard on his own speech.”
In recent weeks, as the BA.2 subvariant has spread around Washington, the White House changed its messaging to say that Biden, like any other American, could test positive “at some point,” but stressed that he has the capacity to “run the country from anywhere” and is up-to-date on COVID boosters.
“Just like anything, it’s a risk assessment, and a decision he made on a personal basis,” Psaki said this week.
Comedian Trevor Noah is set to host Saturday’s dinner, for which guests are required to show proof of vaccination and a day-of negative COVID test. Drew Barrymore, Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson are among celebrities planning to attend, according to a Deadline report.
Earlier this month, two Cabinet members and three lawmakers were among those who tested positive after attending the Gridiron Club Dinner. Speaker Nancy Pelosi also tested positive in early April, days after attending two events with Biden at the White House without a mask. Psaki and White House deputy press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre both tested positive in late March.
Despite the close cases — not deemed close contacts — the positive tests have not had any impact on the president’s plans to take part in large events. He attended the funeral of Madeleine Albright on Wednesday and is scheduled to also travel to Minnesota for the memorial of Walter Mondale on Sunday.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump, in a sworn affidavit, said Friday he possesses no documents subpoenaed by the New York Attorney General’s Office — but the judge overseeing the case declined to end his contempt finding and the $10,000 daily fine.
“To the best of my knowledge, (i) I do not have any of the documents requested in the subpoena dated December 1, 2021 in my personal possession; and (ii) if there are any documents responsive to the subpoena I believe they would be in the possession or custody of the Trump Organization,” Trump’s affidavit said.
“At all relevant times, I have authorized, and continue to authorize, the release of a responsive document to the Office of the Attorney General,” Trump said in the document.
The same document that contains the affidavit also contained a detailed review by Trump’s attorney of the steps taken to look for the documents in question.
But Judge Arthur Engoron remained unsatisfied, and denied Trump’s motion to purge the contempt finding and the fine that accompanies it.
“This Court has improperly held my client in contempt for a violation that he did not commit solely because the OAG declared it ‘insufficient’ without any basis,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in response to the ruling. “We will zealously prosecute our appeal of the Court’s improper application of both law and fact.”
The subpoena was issued as part of the attorney general’s civil investigation into the way Trump valued his real estate empire.
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, has promised the panel will tell the “story about what happened” when the first of at least eight public hearings starts on June 9, he told reporters Thursday.
“We’ll tell the story about what happened. We will use a combination of witnesses, exhibits, things that we have — to the tens of thousands of exhibits we’ve interviewed and looked at as well as the hundreds of witnesses we deposed or just talked to in general,” Thompson said, as the committee works to wrap up more witness interviews in the coming weeks.
“It will give the public the benefit of what more than a year’s worth of investigation has borne to the committee,” he added.
Thompson told reporters that the eight hearings on tap so far will be held in a “mixture” of daytime and prime-time programming. The committee has set a self-imposed fall deadline to share its findings with the American public — coinciding with the 2022 midterm elections which will determine the balance of power in Congress.
He also said the panel will re-invite House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans linked to the Jan. 6 conversations inside the Trump White House to cooperate with their investigation “before the week is out.”
“We’ve collected an awful lot of information. And some of that information has bearing on members. And we want to give those members an opportunity to tell their side,” he said, adding that senators will also be invited to cooperate.
Asked what the panel will do if lawmakers refuse, as they have in the past, Thompson said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Thompson was also asked Thursday about the tranche of text messages that former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows handed over to the committee late last year before he decided not to cooperate with the panel. The authenticity of the messages, first reported by CNN, was confirmed to ABC News by people who have seen them.
“It does not bode well for members of Congress,” Thompson said. “People send us here to be truthful. People send us here to make sure that we present the facts. People don’t send us here to lie.”
Meadows was held in contempt by the House in December for not complying with his subpoena, but has yet to face charges from the Justice Department.
The Jan. 6 committee held its first public hearing in July 2021 and featured emotional testimony from Capitol Police officers who protected the complex on Jan. 6, 2021.
The four officers testifying then — Capitol Police officers Aquilino Gonell and Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Department officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges — flatly rejected what they called attempts to rewrite history and downplay the attack as one that shouldn’t be investigated further, telling lawmakers they all feared for their lives on Jan. 6.
All four said they also wanted the panel to investigate whether those in power may have aided and abetted rioters.
(CHARLESTON, S.C.) — The fight to pass the Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act in South Carolina is now intensifying, as several Republican state senators hold out against it. The state is one of only two in the U.S. that does not have hate crime legislation signed into law.
Pinckney, a state senator and pastor, was one of nine Black parishioners murdered by Dylann Roof in a shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015. Roof was sentenced to death in 2017 after being convicted on federal hate crime charges.
The proposed bill aims to enhance the sentencing and penalties under state law against perpetrators convicted of crimes proven to be fueled by hatred. The only other state without such a law in the books is Wyoming.
The bill has stalled in the state senate for months following objections from eight Republicans, including state Sens. Brian Adams and Larry Grooms, who represents the district where the shooting occurred.
The South Carolina Republican Party and the offices of Adams and Grooms did not immediately respond to requests for comment from ABC News.
Black lawmakers gathered in front of Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s office inside the South Carolina State House on Wednesday to urge Republicans to allow the bill to be taken up for a debate on the Senate floor.
McMaster’s office did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
They played a two-minute video statement from Polly Shepard, a survivor of the massacre, who called out the Republican lawmakers by name.
“Eight members of the South Carolina Senate are giving a safe haven to hate. Everytime you look at Sen. Pinckney’s photograph, you should be reminded that hate killed him,” Sheppard said.
She pleaded with lawmakers: “Why are you holding up this bill? What is wrong with protecting us from hate crimes?”
Democratic state Sen. Mia McLeod slammed Republicans, telling reporters that “there is no appetite on the Republican side for conversations or remarks.”
State Rep. JA Moore, whose sister was among the nine shooting victims, told ABC News that he spoke with Adams after the press conference over his lack of support.
“No piece of legislation, no speech, no demonstration, no removal of any flag or monument is going to remove the type of hate that was in Dylann Roof’s heart when he shot and killed my sister and eight other parishioners,” Moore told ABC News.
He continued, “I’m a different person because of the hate that Dylann had in his heart for Black folks. But what this legislation will do is hold people accountable when they commit hateful actions.”
