A Democratic congressman is facing scathing criticism for his description of the horrific attack on two National Guard members that left one dead.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D) of Mississippi was trying to interrogate Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem when he appeared to severely minimize the terrible attack. Thompson is the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
'Bennie Thompson should apologize and retract this disgusting remark.'
"Madame Secretary, you and the gentleman from [National Counterterrorism Center] reference the unfortunate accident that occurred with the National Guardsmen being killed," said Thompson.
"You think that was an unfortunate accident? That was a terrorist attack!" interjected Noem.
"I mean, look, I'll get it straight," he replied in an annoyed tone.
"He shot our National Guardsmen in the head!" she added.
Thompson appealed to the committee chair to censure Noem for interrupting his questioning.
"It was an unfortunate situation, but you blamed it solely on Joe Biden. I want you to know who approved the asylum application for this same person?" he continued.
Noem responded that the suspect in the shooting had been allowed into the country during the evacuation of Afghanistan during the Biden administration, but Thompson continued to harangue her about the approval of his asylum under the Trump administration.
Video of the exchange was widely circulated on social media, and the bizarre comments led to furious condemnation.
"Note to Democrats: The killing of National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom was not an 'unfortunate accident.' It was a premeditated terrorist attack," replied Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on social media. "Bennie Thompson should apologize and retract this disgusting remark. Well done, @Sec_Noem for refusing to let Democrats downplay terrorism."
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard excoriated Thompson on Fox News and said the moment exemplified a common problem among political leaders.
RELATED: National Guard shooting suspect is Afghan national who entered US under Biden program
"It is absolutely infuriating," said Gabbard. "This is someone who is a very, very senior leader in Congress, who for a long time has led the Homeland Security Committee in Congress. The fact that he cannot and refuses to directly identify this attack for what it was, a terrorist attack on our own soil against our National Guard."
"This exchange really points to the egregious and longstanding problem that we've seen," she added, "which is leaders, some on both sides of the aisle, who refused to identify this Islamist terrorist threat for exactly what it is, which is one of the reasons why we find ourselves in the position that we are in today."
Thompson later said that he had misspoken when confronted by a CNN anchor about the comments.
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In the aftermath of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, America’s digital battlegrounds were scorched by censorship — not just from Big Tech, but from within.
On Jan. 9, Apple banned Parler from its App Store. Google Play followed the same day. Three days later, Wimkin — another fast-growing platform I founded in 2020 — was pulled from both stores while trending as the No. 1 download.
This story isn’t just about app stores or privacy. It’s about who actually fights for liberty — and who cashes in on the illusion of it.
Apple reinstated Parler just two weeks later. Big Tech doesn’t reinstate fighters. It rewards compliance. Parler capitulated, big-time.
Parler’s infrastructure wasn’t just negligent; it became a surveillance tool. The platform required government ID to create an account and failed to scrub GPS metadata from user-uploaded media. That metadata was easily scraped and used to locate users inside and around the Capitol on Jan. 6.
IDs plus GPS equals turnkey doxxing. Parler didn’t resist the feds — it did their job for them.
Wimkin, by contrast, required no ID and stripped metadata to protect user anonymity. But even though we did everything right, Apple and Google deplatformed us at the height of our momentum.
At the same time, the U.S. Postal Service’s secret surveillance unit — iCOP — began monitoring Wimkin for “threats.” The message was clear: The surveillance state had our platform in its crosshairs.
Then came two separate demands from Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and the January 6 committee, ordering Wimkin to turn over internal communications. Wimkin refused.
Wimkin, in fact, was one of the few companies to hold the line. That is what fighting looks like.
And where were the conservative influencers? The so-called "free-speech warriors" refused to promote Wimkin unless they were paid $5,000 or more per post. They’d praise Parler — which helped get users arrested — but wouldn’t lift a finger for the one platform actually resisting federal pressure.
RELATED: We say we want free speech — until we hear something we hate
Wimkin wasn’t unprofitable — we were demonetized, targeted, and shut down at every turn. We burned through legal fees to protect users and stand up to Congress. And we received practically no media defense, no major promotion, and no institutional support.
But we stood our ground. And now, Wimkin is going public on the NASDAQ.
This story isn’t just about app stores or privacy. It’s about who actually fights for liberty — and who cashes in on the illusion of it.
Parler bent the knee. Wimkin planted a flag.
The Committee on Homeland Security's Wednesday hearing on the role of non-governmental organizations in the immigration crisis erupted into a fiery partisan clash.
Oversight Project president and Blaze News contributor Mike Howell stood up against Democratic lawmakers, who repeatedly sought to derail the hearing with unscheduled procedural votes.
'Congressman Thompson was an emotional hypocrite.'
The pushback began with Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) interrupting Howell's opening testimony to call for a recorded vote to declare his comments irrelevant to the hearing's topic.
Howell's opening remarks laid into Democrat lawmakers for fueling violence against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He claimed that many of the NGOs behind the Biden administration's immigration crisis are now behind the anti-ICE movement.
The Republican majority ultimately voted to allow Howell to proceed. However, it did not stop Democrats from introducing repeated roadblocks by pushing motions to subpoena other potential witnesses.
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The frequent interruptions hindered the proceedings, and most Democrats did not use their time to ask the witnesses questions; instead, they delivered monologues.
Howell described the hearing as a "mess."
He told Blaze News, "Congressman Thompson was an emotional hypocrite. He didn't want me to explain how his own members' calls for violence were predictably leading to violence. Remember, this is the man who chaired the January 6 committee. He tried getting me kicked out, and on the theory my testimony wasn't relevant, then he and all Democrats proceeded to drone on for hours about completely irrelevant topics."
Toward the end of Wednesday's hearing, Howell engaged in a tense exchange with Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), who is not a committee member but had requested to sit in on the session.
Ansari used her questioning time to try to challenge Howell, but it spectacularly backfired.
She claimed that one ICE detention center was mistreating immigrants.
"I spoke with more than a dozen women there who were desperate, devastated about the conditions that they're living in, facing significant harassment. They described a situation where one of the staff members literally forced them outside to march outside in 110-degree Arizona heat, marching around for over two hours, yelling at them, 'This is the price of the American dream.' This is disgusting," she stated.
Ansari then turned to ask Howell so-called "yes or no" questions.
"Do you support this type of treatment of human beings?" she asked.
Howell replied, "I'm sorry; I wasn't listening. All the other Democrats haven't asked a question, so I kind of wasn't paying attention. Can you restate it?"
Ansari, clearly taken aback, repeated her question.
"For illegal aliens to be detained throughout their immigration proceedings? Yes," Howell responded.
Ansari interrupted, "To be treated that way?"
"I'm not taking your word for it," Howell declared.
RELATED: The Epstein memo is a joke — and the joke’s on us
Ansari moved on from the topic to question Howell about oversight authority, claiming that lawmakers are permitted to visit ICE detention facilities. Howell disagreed.
"You, as an individual member, do not have oversight authority," he explained. "Oversight authority, by the rules of the House, flows through the full House to the chairman, and that, right now, is held by [Republicans]. So the statute that you cite is going to end up with more Democrats clogging our jails. I want to keep you out of jail," Howell said.
Ansari attempted to catch Howell off guard regarding his views on the Epstein files, suggesting that he had reversed his stance on their release and was now echoing Trump's claims that it was a Democrat hoax. But Howell fired back that Ansari had gotten her facts wrong.
"What did I say?" Howell asked. "What have I parroted about it being a hoax?"
"You said something false. I'm asking you to cite what you said, which is clearly false because I've not said what you said," Howell replied. "My answer is written in an op-ed in TheBlaze, which you can read."
"You are lying to the American people in your misstatements. You just told a lie in this committee room. I'm trying to clear up the record," Howell continued.
"I think that the public deserves way more transparency than we've got. I've written that."
"Bring the receipts. You're lying, and everybody knows it," Howell remarked.
Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) applauded Howell's takedown. He wrote in a post on X, "Democrats clearly weren't prepared for @MHowellTweets."
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Democrats and their media allies now argue that members of Congress hold a newly invented constitutional right to storm U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. Their claim? Elected office grants them authority to resist arrest, trespass on federal property, and even assault law enforcement — all in the name of “oversight.”
This claim fails both legally and morally. The members involved should face prosecution for any crimes they committed, along with disciplinary action in the House of Representatives. For too long, the political class has treated immigration enforcement as a mere policy disagreement — as if wanting laws enforced and wanting them ignored were morally equivalent. In doing so, the left has normalized the historically abnormal: mass illegal immigration and the sabotage of our deportation systems. It’s time to treat these actions for what they are — criminal subversion of U.S. law.
No one gets to use 'oversight' as a pretext for criminal behavior.
Start with what happened last week in Newark, New Jersey. The instigators included New Jersey Democratic Reps. LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Rob Menendez Jr., along with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Baraka was arrested for trespassing and defying multiple warnings to leave the premises. According to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, body camera footage shows “members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers, including body-slamming a female ICE officer.” DHS plans to release the video soon.
The Democrats have mounted two defenses. First, they claim victimhood — insisting they broke no laws. That argument will not survive video evidence.
Second, they assert an absolute right to enter ICE facilities without warning under their oversight authority. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, defended the stunt by denouncing ICE as “Trump’s stormtroopers” and promising “more oversight — and more unannounced visits.”
Thompson and others cite an appropriations law that says, “Nothing in this section may be construed to require a Member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility ... for the purpose of conducting oversight.”
That phrase — “conducting oversight” — is the entire ballgame.
The fact is, oversight powers do not belong to individual members of Congress. They belong to the full House, delegated through formal committees led by majority-party chairmen. Minority members cannot issue subpoenas or demand access on their own. Without authorization from Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), the Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee had no legal basis to enter — let alone rush — a secure ICE facility.
ICE’s past policy of accommodating visits reflects executive discretion, not any congressional right. No one gets to use “oversight” as a pretext for criminal behavior. Even with proper authorization, no member of Congress holds the right to use force to conduct an inspection. This is a political argument masquerading as a legal one.
U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba has indicated she will proceed with prosecution. Her decision should rest solely on the facts — not the convenient legal fiction of “oversight amnesty.” As Bennie Thompson himself once said when chairing the January 6 select committee, “No one is above the law.”
Congress should not let this incident pass without consequences. While expulsion may prove unlikely due to the two-thirds vote requirement, the House can and should remove these members from their committee assignments. Rep. McIver currently sits on the Homeland Security Committee, where Secretary Kristi Noem is scheduled to testify this week. Let her watch from the hallway.
Liz Cheney was thoroughly rejected by American voters in 2022, failing to capture more than 28.9% of the vote in her Republican primary. She was, however, ultimately able to win over the 82-year-old Democrat in the White House.
Fresh off commuting the sentence of a serial killer who raped and murdered two little girls, along with 36 other death-row killers, President Joe Biden announced that he was awarding the Presidential Citizens Medal to Cheney. Also getting the medal are fellow House Jan. 6 committee leader Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and former Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.), previously a leading Democratic recipient of donations by Harvey Weinstein and a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac favorite who was credibly accused of sexually assaulting a waitress with Ted Kennedy in 1985.
President Richard Nixon created the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1969, the second-highest civilian award of the U.S. government, "for the purpose of recognizing citizens of the United States of America who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens."
Whereas Biden is conferring the award upon his scandal-plagued friend Dodd for supposedly standing "watch over America as a beacon to the world," the Democratic president appears to be awarding Cheney and Thompson for their joint attempts to lock up his former political opponent.
Highlighting her work as vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, the White House stated that Cheney, who backed Kamala Harris' humiliating electoral defeat, "has raised her voice — and reached across the aisle — to defend our Nation and the ideals we stand for: Freedom. Dignity. And decency. Her integrity and intrepidness remind us all what is possible if we work together."
The White House suggested that Thompson, who chaired the committee and tried to strip President-elect Donald Trump of Secret Service protection months ahead of the attempted assassination against him in Pennsylvania, defended "the rule of law with unwavering integrity and a steadfast commitment to truth."
'Honestly, they should go to jail.'
According to the White House, "President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others. The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice."
The incoming president sees the duo in a different light, especially Cheney.
Earlier this year, Trump reportedly reposted a meme of Liz Cheney suggesting that she was "guilty of treason." On another occasion, he wrote, "She should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!"
Trump doubled down on his remarks in a "Meet the Press" interview last month, stating, "Cheney did something that's inexcusable along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps. So the unselect committee went through a year and a half of testimony. ... They deleted and destroyed all evidence that they found. You know why? Because Nancy Pelosi was guilty. Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 troops."
"People lied so badly. Now listen: This was a committee, a big deal. They lied. And what did they do? They deleted and destroyed a whole year and a half worth of testimony," continued Trump. "I think those people committed a major crime."
"Honestly, they should go to jail," added Trump.
An interim report released last month by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chair of the House Oversight Committee, noted that the Jan. 6 committee "presented uncorroborated, cherry-picked, and, at times, false evidence that fit its narrative" that Trump was supposedly personally liable for the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
"Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation," said the report.
According to the report, Cheney should be investigated for allegedly tampering with at least one witness and for possibly violating 18 U.S.C. 1622, which prohibits any person from suborning perjury.
The report also indicated it is clear that Thompson, solely responsibly for complying with House rules related to the archiving of committee records, improperly deleted the committee's recordings of transcribed interviews, thereby preventing House Republicans from reviewing the videos, "which could have contained important information, specifically with respect to the interviews of Cassidy Hutchinson."
The White House's announcement prompted ridicule online.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted, "Having 'Joe Biden,' as one of his last acts, bestow a presidential medial on Liz Cheney says so much about the value system of the Democratic Party. But what 'Biden' said about Cheney — an advocate still of countless views liberals denounce as fascist — is even more telling."
Trump senior adviser Jason Miller wrote, "Pathetic. With attacks happening in the United States and around the world, THIS is how Biden is spending his time today?"
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Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson used an AI-generated image of Alex Pretti’s death in which a federal immigration agent is missing his head during a Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday. Thompson is the same man who chaired the Jan. 6 Committee, which was also caught fabricating “evidence.” While Thompson was chiding Department of Homeland Security […]
The freshly inaugurated president delivered the pardons in one of his first acts upon his triumphant return to the Oval Office.
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