#Chaffetz spox says he's leaving town hall w/o responding to press. Says his town hall speaks for itself. pic.twitter.com/skX6Izse5U
— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) February 10, 2017
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz — the Republican who’s responsible for holding Donald Trump accountable — was in for a big surprise when he appeared for a Utah town hall on Thursday night. In a Salt Lake City suburb, he was greeted by a rowdy crowd who wasn’t thrilled about his lack of investigations into the president. Specifically, folks would like to know why he didn’t dig into Trump’s super-secret taxes. Chaffetz told the crowd that it was not illegal for Trump to keep his taxes hidden, although it would have been preferable for voters to see them. CNN Correspondent Kyung Lah tweeted this video of the crowd shouting, “Do your job!”
Cong Chaffetz Town Hall crowd chanting “Do your job!” He’s having a hard time answering over crowd noise @UtahIndivisible @IndivisibleTeam pic.twitter.com/gO0BXybGy5
— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) February 10, 2017
Over 1000 protesters crowded the venue, and those who couldn’t get a seat gathered outside to shout-demand, “Investigate Trump!”
#Chaffetz town hall post-game: Protesters who couldn’t get in are still outside chanting “we’ll be back!” and “investigate Trump!” pic.twitter.com/tnkPa2Wput
— Eric Bradner (@ericbradner) February 10, 2017
He explained his apparent lack of enthusiasm for investigating Trump conflicts of interest. “You’re not going to like this part: the president, under the law, is exempt from conflict of interest laws.” A few days ago, Chaffetz also revealed that Trump won’t let him discuss oversight at all.
Chaffetz already made headlines earlier in the day when he condemned Kellyanne Conway’s White House advertisement for Ivanka’s clothing line. He released a bipartisan letter, but in Utah, he didn’t receive the warmest of welcomes for people who were angry at the lack of Trump investigations. At one point, Chaffetz discussed how he’d like to do away with the Department of Education and Betsy DeVos. In this clip, he was greeted by a man who yelled, “I want to get rid of you!”
#Chaffetz says he wants to eliminate Education Department. “I want to get rid of Betsy DeVos!”
Man in crowd: “We want to get rid of you!” pic.twitter.com/tQHbZSceU5
— Eric Bradner (@ericbradner) February 10, 2017
Chaffetz left the town hall 40 minutes before he was scheduled to do so. He declined to speak with the press, but it’s no wonder that some folks aren’t thrilled with his lack of action. After all (and as Huffington Post notes), Chaffetz had previously expressed great interest with investigating Hillary Clinton when folks still thought she’d win the election: “It’s a target-rich environment,” he bragged in October. “Even before we get to Day One, we’ve got two years’ worth of material already lined up.” Whereas for Trump, he stated, “Give it a few days, for goodness sake!” Chaffetz added, “All the flailing before he was even sworn in was a bit silly, if not purely immature.”
(Via San Francisco Gate & Huffington Post)