WATCH: Democrat Rep. Scrambles To Stop Hearing After Witness Brings Out Receipts
Published 9 hours ago
on July 16, 2025
By Mark Steffen
A congressional witness was cut off on Wednesday after presenting receipts along with his testimony, forcing one Democrat to scramble while trying to silence him on a technicality.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) cut off Michael Howell of the Heritage Foundation after he accused Democratic politicians of “demagoguery” that he said has motivated violent attacks against immigration officers. Howell had just started delivering a barnburner of a speech on the consequences of violent protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during immigration raids.
“Thank you for giving me a platform to plead with members of this body, all on the Democrats’ side, to stand down on their threats against the men and women of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The violence is getting out of control, and it is fueled by the demagoguery of politicians,” stated Howell, a Visiting Fellow in the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center.
“Whether it is one of your members telling Axios that there needs to be ‘blood’ to grab the attention of the press and the public or another saying ‘civility isn’t working’ and to ‘prepare for violence,’ or even a member of this committee being arrested for forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officials. This escalation deserves condemnation,” he continued with rising anger.
Howell appeared to be referring to an Axios report from earlier this month where anonymous Democratic lawmakers encouraged their party to up the ante in immigration protests, including a “willingness to get shot” in the process.
Those comments came after the arrest of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) for interrupting a press conference by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the arrest of Congresswoman Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) for allegedly interfering with ICE officials outside a detention facility.
“It needs to stop, and it needs to stop now,” Howell continued, citing a recent DHS announcement showing that assaults against ICE officers are up over 830%.
The Heritage Foundation scholar began to cite specific incidents of violence against ICE officers when he was cut off.
“I’ve got a point of order,” interrupted Rep. Thompson, who claimed Howell’s testimony was “outside the scope of the hearing.”
Republican lawmakers quickly piled on, objecting to Thompson’s call to halt Howell’s testimony.
WATCH:
https://rumble.com/embed/v6u2cv2/?pub=4more
https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/watch-democrat-rep-scrambles-to-stop-hearing-after-witness-brings-out-receipts-mstef/
