The Mississippi Democrat who chaired the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is set to deliver the keynote address at the Colorado Democratic Party’s annual fundraising dinner in April, the party announced.

Elected in November to a 16th term, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson was involved in the civil rights movement and chaired the House Homeland Security Committee in the last Congress but rose to national prominence last year in his role as chairman of the select committee tasked with investigating former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.

In its final report issued in December, the panel of seven Democrats and two Republicans said Trump had engaged in a criminal “multi-part conspiracy” to reverse the election results and failed to stop the violence that delayed certifying President Joe Biden’s win.

Trump, for his part, claimed vindication after Thompson announced early this year before the committee dissolved that it was withdrawing the subpoena it had issued to the former president. Trump also referred to its members as “Thugs and Scoundrels.”

The Democrats’ 6th annual Obama Gala is scheduled for April 1 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, with tickets ranging from $195 for individual donors up to $10,000 for the priciest tables.

Earlier that day, the party’s state central committee meets at the same location to elect a party chair, 1st and 2nd vice chairs, secretary and treasurer to two-year terms.

In addition to hearing from Thompson, donors will have the opportunity to groove out to the sounds of Hazel Miller and the Collective – and commune with hundreds of monarch butterflies.

A mainstay on the Denver music scene for decades, Miller is known for her soulful renditions of jazz, blues and pop tunes, while the intricately patterned orange-and-black monarchs are known for their annual migration from the United States and Canada to Mexico and back.

An estimated 400 of the critters, on loan from Westminster’s Butterfly Pavilion, will be fluttering around inside a tent enclosure in the lobby, with party-goers able to enter and enjoy their company before the dinner, a party spokeswoman said.

This year’s dinner marks a return to a downtown Denver hotel for the first time since 2019. Democrats held virtual fundraisers in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic and threw a scaled-down outdoor bash last year at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

As usual, the party plans to hand out a long list of awards at the dinner, including naming Attorney General Phil Weiser as Democrat of the Year and tagging last year’s 3rd Congressional District nominee Adam Frisch as its Rising Star. Former U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who retired this year after eight terms representing the 7th Congressional District, is slated to receive the party’s Lifetime Achievement award.

Other honorees include Volunteer of the Year Skip Madsen; Outreach Award winner Sol Sandoval, who finished a close second behind Frisch in the 3rd CD primary; and, freshman state Reps. Elizabeth Velasco of Glenwood Springs and Kevin Kuns of Montrose with the Rural Outreach Award. Teal Lehto, Spencer Wilcox and Bhavya Thimmannagari will receive the Murphy Roberts Young Volunteers of the Year awards, named in honor of the late brother of state Sen. Dylan Roberts.

The inaugural Marguerite Salazar Community Service Award goes to its namesake, a former Colorado insurance commissioner and director of the state’s Department of Regulatory Agencies, who died last fall, and Denver Councilwoman Robin Kneich.

The Chair’s Award goes to Montezuma County Democratic Party Chair Mary Dodd, longtime state party volunteer Pat Rottschaefer and Colorado Black Roundtable founder John Bailey, said outgoing state chair Morgan Carroll, who announced late last year that she isn’t seeking a fourth term running the party.

Previous keynote speakers in recent years include U.S. Rep. Grace Meng and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, and U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff of California and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who addressed the crowd when she was a newly elected congresswoman from New Mexico.

Colorado Republicans used to hold their Centennial Dinner fundraiser the night before their state party’s biennial reorganization meeting – that’s set for March 11 this year – but moved the dinner to the fall in odd-numbered years a few years back. The keynote speaker at the state GOP’s most recent Centennial Dinner was U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona.