Tag: House Freedom Caucus

Rep. Griffith tests positive for coronavirus days after speaking with unmasked members

The Virginia Republican wore a mask when not speaking

Rep. Morgan Griffith is self-quarantining and has notified colleagues with whom he has been in contact recently after experiencing symptoms and testing positive for the coronavirus.

Griffith spoke Thursday at a House Freedom Caucus press event in front of the Capitol and stood near other lawmakers and medical professionals who were critical of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for being too stringent with guidance on school reopenings. The Virginia Republican was not aware of any symptoms when he spoke at the news conference and wore a mask when not speaking, a spokesman said.

“He left the Capitol complex Thursday afternoon to return to Salem and has not been in DC since,” spokesman Kevin Baird said in a statement. “After the positive test, he has been notifying people with whom he has been in contact.” Continue reading.

House Freedom Caucus members are suddenly concerned with civility after spending years trying to impeach Obama appointees

The Democrats have held the majority in the House for five months and the only public oversight hearing to shine a light on the administration’s behavior happened four months ago. I’m speaking of Michael Cohen’s testimony in which he figuratively pointed a finger at the Republicans and said:

I’m responsible for your silliness, because I did the same thing that you’re doing now for 10 years — I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years. Everybody’s job at the Trump Organization is to protect Mr. Trump. Every day, most of us knew we were coming in and we were going to lie for him on something. And that became the norm. That’s exactly what’s happening right now in this country, and it’s exactly what’s happening here in government.

It was riveting testimony from a witness who was anxious to testify against the president. He was probably the last of those. Trump’s other accomplices have shown no inclination to see the error of their ways. As Cohen was when he worked for the Trump Organization, they are fully committed to protecting the boss. They also seem to be quite sure they won’t end up like Cohen if they refuse to cooperate with Congress and they don’t seem to fear of other legal consequences. If you didn’t know better you’d think they were part of a mob syndicate that has the system wired and all the important people in their pockets.

View the complete June 10 article by Heather Digby Parton from Salon on the AlterNet website here.