| Gilbert Questions Why Gohmert is More Focused on Defending Trump, Obstructing Investigation, Than Needs of Congressional District 1 TYLER, Texas – On Wednesday, Hank Gilbert (D-Tyler) condemned Rep. Louie Gohmert’s intrusion into the sensitive information facility where the House Judiciary Committee was conducting hearings, and said Gohmert’s attempts on Tuesday to turn the meeting of the House Natural Resources Committee in to a conspiracy circus were misguided and inappropriate. “While the people of East Texas are worried about goods costing morewhen they go shopping because of tariffs and factory workers in the district are seeing major manufacturing slowdowns as the holiday season approaches, Louie Gohmert is acting like a child and bursting into committee rooms,” Gilbert said. On Wednesday morning, Gohmert was among a number of Republicanmembers of Congress who stormed a Secure Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) committee room where a U.S. House committee was conducting hearings on the impeachment inquiry. House committees often meet in SCIF committee rooms when discussing matters involving intelligence, which was the case on Wednesday. Gohmert’s theatrics have been going on all week. On Tuesday evening,Gohmert was among members of the House’s so-called Freedom Caucus that met with President Trump at the White House, with one of Gohmert’s colleagues telling the Washington Post, “we have his back,” concerning the caucus and Trump. “It is funny to me that the day after Louie Gohmert and the Freedom Caucus visit with Trump and publicly announce they have his back, he is storming a committee room as if it’s the Bastille,” Gilbert said. “It is difficult for me to believe a former judge, who no doubt heard motions en camera, privately, in his chambers or courtroom, would exercise such a lack of decorum concerning the process,” Gilbert said. “There were no theatrics like this when similar meetings have taken place in the past prior to impeachment, leading many to quickly conclude that Louie’s loyalty isn’t to his district, but to a corrupt administration and his caucus,” Gilbert continued. “If someone had done this in Gohmert’s chambers while he was a judge, he’d have held them in contempt and probably tossed them in jail,” Gilbert said. Gilbert also questioned why Gohmert tried to turn a meeting of the House Natural Resources Committee, on which he sits, in to a circus about Ukrainian election conspiracies during a hearing on an oversight bill relating to Puerto Rico on Tuesday. “It seems Louie Gohmert doesn’t care about the actual work before him of being a member of Congress and making decisions that impact the entire nation. Instead, he will use every opportunity he can to grandstand, defend Trump, and completely ignore his district’s needs,” Gohmert said. “Being a member of Congress is about more than showing up at functions in your district, it is about delivering results. Gohmert has delivered nothing of substance for his district since he took office in 2005,” Gilbert said. |
