Leadership Quote by Charles Foster Bass

Power here is performed as procedure. Bass leads with his credential - "As a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence" - not to inform you, but to launder the next claim through institutional authority. It is a classic Washington move: position first, substance later. By the time we get to "startling revelations", the audience has already been told this is serious, inside-baseball, and worthy of attention, even if the speaker hasn’t disclosed a single fact.

The phrase "I will be participating" is doing quiet work. It signals action while avoiding agency. He’s not "demanding", "challenging", or "investigating"; he’s attending the machinery. That matters in the intelligence world, where the public wants accountability but members of Congress often want plausible distance from outcomes they can’t fully control. "Several hearings" stretches the timeline, suggesting diligence and gravity, while also buying time: hearings are as much choreography as they are discovery.

"Startling revelations" is the emotional payload - a teaser-trailer adjective set meant to elevate the report’s stakes without committing to what, exactly, is being alleged. It invites the press to amplify the drama and constituents to feel protected by oversight, yet it keeps the speaker insulated if the revelations later look less explosive. The subtext is institutional reassurance: something big may be wrong, but the grown-ups are on it, within the safe lanes of Congress.