Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Tuesday envisioned an extremist Republican takeover of House oversight in a speech that critics slammed as “terrifying.”
“We are going to take power after this next election and when we do, it’s not going to be the days of Paul Ryan and Trey Gowdy and no real oversight and no real subpoenas,” Gaetz told a news conference highlighting District of Columbia jail conditions for accused U.S. Capitol rioters.
“It’s going to be the days of Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Dr. [Paul] Gosar and myself doing everything” to get answers to claims about FBI involvement in the deadly violence on Jan. 6, he added. The conspiracy theory that insurrectionists were a “false flag” operation of anti-Trumpists, promoted by some Republican extremists and right-wing media personalities, has been debunked.
Gaetz is reportedly under investigation in a federal sex trafficking probe.
Gaetz and the fellow Republicans he named ― Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.) ― all voted to overturn the 2020 election result and have promoted Donald Trump’s election fraud conspiracy theories.
That Gaetz suggested House oversight would fall under their control was cause for much concern on social media.
Support HuffPost
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.