Rep. Bennie Thompson, (D-MS), did not go on CNN this morning to tell the audience about the evidence the committee has gathered, nor did he go on to tell the American people who they would refer for criminal prosecution.

He went on CNN to tell Americans, including Donald Trump and all his enablers, that they are not afraid of doing whatever is needed to obtain the evidence they require and that they are prepared to refer any crime they find over to DOJ.

Dana Bash ask Thompson about whether he believed Trump committed any criminal conduct. Thompson has been in office way too long to give much away on CNN’s Sunday morning show. But he is also experienced enough to know how to send a message to those who think they can simply slide through, keeping their mouths shut, and those who think they are untouchable, too big to be prosecuted.

When asked about whether he believed Trump, specifically, committed a crime, Thompson demonstrated why he was named Committee chair:

“Well, we don’t know. We’re in the process of trying to get all the information. But I can say if there’s anything that we come up on as a committee that we think would warrant a referral to the Department of Justice, we’ll do that.”

“That’s our oath as members of Congress. So it’s not just that. It’s any of the other things we’re looking at, if there’s any confidence on the part of our committee that something criminal we believe has occurred, we’ll make the referral.”

The answer is all boilerplate unless one remembers that he was just asked about Trump specifically, and said, if they have “any confidence,” and “we’ll make the referral.”

Message delivered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPmlzlFyHdM

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