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Bennie Thompson committee started investigation leading to Trump charges

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1 year ago

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U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Bolton, who chaired a special committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and the attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, said the criminal indictment Tuesday of former President Donald Trump is an important step in preserving America’s democracy.

The charges announced Tuesday afternoon against Trump “are consistent with those the Select Committee referred to the Special Counsel last year, and successful prosecutions will not only bring accountability but also help prevent something like Jan. 6th from ever happening again,” Thompson, a Democrat, said.

“Jan. 6th was a test of American democracy, but the fair trials of those responsible will further demonstrate this nation’s commitment to the rule of law and hold accountable those who attempted to undermine it.”

Thompson, the second Black person to represent Mississippi in the U.S. House since the 1800s, was selected by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi to head the special bipartisan committee formed to investigate the Jan. 6 riots and the efforts to overturn the election results where Joe Biden defeated Trump. Many national pundits credited the investigatory work done by the Thompson committee with leading to the charges filed Tuesday by Special Counsel Jack Smith against the former president.

Trump was indicted on four separate charges related to Jan. 6 and the attempt to overthrow the election.,

Those charges are, according to NBC news:

*Conspiracy to defraud the United States.

* Conspiracy to impede the Jan. 6 congressional proceedings.

* A conspiracy against the right to vote and to have that vote counted.

* Obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct and impede, the certification of the electoral vote.

In a statement, Thompson said, when chairing the committee, he “was moved by the courageous testimony of four brave police officers who came to the defense of the Capitol and American democracy on Jan. 6, 2021. Those heroes asked us for something in that hearing: Hold those responsible for that deadly attack accountable.”

“And, at the end of its investigation, the bipartisan Jan. 6th Select Committee turned over to the Justice Department its evidence of an extensive plot by the ex-president to overturn the presidential election on Jan. 6th and prevent the peaceful transfer of power,” Thompson said.

Thompson, who worked in the 1960s to help register people to vote, told CNN before his special committee began its work in June 1922, ““I want, as an African American, to be able to say to the world that I helped stabilize our government when insurrectionists tried to take over.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi College will change its name and drop its football program

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2 hours ago

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November 18, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Associated Press – 2024-11-18 17:42:00

Mississippi College will change its name and drop its football program after the current season, the board of the private institution announced Monday.

The college, in the Jackson suburb of Clinton, will become Mississippi Christian University beginning with its bicentennial in 2026. It said in an announcement that the new name emphasizes the school’s status as a comprehensive university while keeping the MC logo and identity.

“These transformational and necessary changes are extremely important to the future of this institution,” Mississippi College President Blake Thompson said. “As we look ahead to the institution’s bicentennial in 2026, we want to ensure that MC will be a university recognized for academic excellence and commitment to the cause of Christ for another 200 years.”

Mississippi College sports teams compete in NCAA Division II. The college will have 17 sports after football is discontinued.

“As we consider the changing landscape of college football, the increasing influence of the NIL and transfer portal, as well as increasing costs to operate and travel, we felt it was necessary to focus our efforts on building first-class programs that can compete for championships,” MC Athletic Director Kenny Bizot said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Doctors group asks state Supreme Court to clarify that abortions are illegal in Mississippi

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5 hours ago

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November 18, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-11-18 14:27:00

A group of anti-abortion doctors is asking the state Supreme Court to reverse its earlier ruling stating that the right to an abortion is guaranteed by the Mississippi Constitution.

The original 1998 Supreme Court ruling that provides the right to an abortion for Mississippians conflicts with state law that bans most abortions in Mississippi.

The appeal to the Supreme Court comes after an earlier ruling by Hinds County Chancellor Crystal Wise Martin, who found the group of conservative physicians did not have standing to bring the lawsuit.

Mississippi members of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists argued that they could be punished for not helping a patient find access to an abortion since the earlier state Supreme Court ruling said Mississippians had a right to abortion under the state Constitution. But the Hinds County chancellor said they did not have standing because they could not prove any harm to them because of their anti abortion stance.

Attorney Aaron Rice, representing the doctors, said after the October ruling by Wise Martin that he intended to ask the state Supreme Court to rule on the case.

It was a Mississippi case that led to the controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed since the early 1970s a national right to an abortion.

Mississippi had laws in place to ban most abortions once Roe v. Wade was overturned, But there also was the 1998 state Supreme Court ruling that provided the right to an abortion.

Despite that ruling, there are currently no abortion clinics in Mississippi. But in the lawsuit, the conservative physicians group pointed out the ambiguity of the issue since in normal legal proceedings a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of an issue would trump state law.

But in her ruling, Wise Martin pointed out that the state Supreme Court in multiple recent high-profile rulings has limited standing or who has the ability to file a lawsuit. Wise Martin said testimony on the issue revealed that physicians had not been punished in Mississippi for refusing to perform abortions.

Both the state and a pro abortion rights group argued that the physicians did not have standing to pursue the lawsuit. The state also contends that existing law makes it clear that most abortions are banned in Mississippi.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Podcast: A critical Mississippi Supreme Court runoff

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12 hours ago

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November 18, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Adam Ganucheau, Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance – 2024-11-18 06:30:00

Voters will choose between Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens and state Sen. Jenifer Branning in a runoff election on Nov. 26, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Mississippi Today’s Adam Ganucheau, Bobby Harrison, and Taylor Vance break down the race and discuss why the election is so important for the future of the court and policy in Mississippi.

READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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