Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chair of the House select committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol speaks as the committee meets to hold Steve Bannon, one of former President Donald Trump's allies in contempt, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 19, 2021. Listening are Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has filed a resolution calling for censure of Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson for what Gaetz claims are violations of House Rules by the Jan. 6th Select Committee Thompson chaired.

Gaetz is calling for Thompson to be removed from the Homeland Security Committee, and “at a minimum” censured. Censure is a formal statement of disapproval that must be adopted by a majority of the House.

Thompson, then-chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, chaired the nine-member, bipartisan (although it only had two Republicans) select committee appointed to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack of the U.S. Capitol. The committee in December released its final report and recommended prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice and charges against former President Donald Trump of obstruction, fraud, conspiracy and inciting an insurrection.

READ MORE: ‘An attempted coup’: Rep. Bennie Thompson tells the world what happened on Jan. 6, 2021

Gaetz said a House Judiciary Committee investigation showed Thompson violated House rules by not turning over all the January 6th Committee records to the House clerk at the end of the 117th Congress in December.

“Thompson sent a letter to the Biden White House and the Department of Homeland Security in which he implied critical congressional records related to the work of the January 6th Committee would be improperly stored at the White House,” Gaetz said in a press release.

Thompson, in a statement Thursday, replied to Gaetz’ claims: “The Select Committee complied with the rules of the House, and I stand by its work. No one should be distracted by agents of chaos who would rather pull political stunts than protect the Capitol.”

According to numerous news reports, the January 6th Committee last year released interview transcripts from a Trump aide who testified Gaetz sought a preemptive presidential pardon relating to a federal child sex trafficking investigation. Trump and Gaetz have denied that he asked Trump for a pardon.

READ MORE: Rep. Bennie Thompson, leading the public Jan. 6 hearings, has long worked to protect democracy

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Geoff serves as Politics and Government Editor, working closely with Mississippi Today leadership on editorial strategy and investigations. Pender joined the Mississippi Today team in 2020, bringing 30 years of political and government reporting experience to the newsroom.

Previously, Pender served as Politics and Investigative Editor at The Clarion Ledger, where he also penned a popular political column. While at The Clarion Ledger, Pender helped lead digital transformation for the legacy publication, while overseeing watchdog news teams and government reporting. He previously served as an investigative reporter and political editor at the Sun Herald, where he was a member of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team for Hurricane Katrina coverage. Originally from Florence, Mississippi, Pender is a journalism graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and has received numerous awards throughout his career for reporting, columns and freedom of information efforts.