As you may have seen over the weekend, former Speaker of the House turned Fox News pundit, close Kevin McCarthy ally, and Trump propagandist — Newt Gingrich — made headlines threatening me and my colleagues personally.
Gingrich threatened jail time for those who are investigating the violent January 6 attack on our Capitol. As a member of that committee, I won’t dignify this obscene statement. But I do want to talk to you about something else he said that is part of a new, disturbing pattern.
In an op-ed, Gingrich singled me out for a whole series of baseless attacks. In an act of projection worthy of the man he is desperate to impress, Donald Trump, he called me a “vicious, dishonest smear artist.” But that isn’t the worst part. He claimed I “should not be allowed to serve on any committee with legislative jurisdiction” and that I should be removed.
These comments from the former Speaker are troubling. Not because of their weight, but because of the trend. It comes at the heels of Marjorie Taylor Greene calling for me to be stripped of all responsibility in Congress — in retaliation for her disgrace barely a month into her term.
Greene’s threats were followed by threats made by the former President. And then made by the GOP Leader, Kevin McCarthy. They are all in lockstep in this messaging, following wherever the most extreme person leads them.
It’s no longer an idle talking point to drive Greene’s Twitter engagement. Republicans, behind closed doors, appear to be planning to seek retribution against anyone who has the courage to tell the truth — if they win in the midterms. We simply cannot allow that to happen. If they do, that’s the end of any serious oversight and the beginning of a new wave of corruption.
Openly threatening to kick members off their legislative committee assignments and imprison them, all for doing our jobs. And in my case, because I held the former president to account for his serial abuses of power.
This is the authoritarian impulse we’ve been warned about for so long. Republicans have made jailing their political opponents a central plank of their campaigns since at least 2016. Their autocratic cult of personality is attempting to flex its muscle in broad daylight. And we must stop it.
We cannot allow the GOP to take the House in November. That future is grim. Will you pitch in right now to my re-election campaign? We cannot sit idly by.
Thank you for being with me in this fight. — Adam |
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