Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) accused her colleagues of protecting abusers in a fiery rant during a Wednesday House hearing.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee listened to testimony from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on alleged misuse of government funding in his state. At one point during the hearing, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) filed a motion for a subpoena for information on an alleged “sexual harassment slush fund.” A week earlier, Luna claimed on X/Twitter that Congress has a slush fund that it uses to “pay people off with your tax dollars.”
When Luna was given time to speak, she called out members of Congress for supporting Mace’s motion while refusing to condemn the alleged actions of Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX). Days earlier, text messages were published that appeared to show Gonzales making sexual advances to a staffer. The staffer repeatedly tried to push back against those advances. She later died by suicide.
While some have called for his resignation, other Republicans have argued against the idea due to the party’s thin majority in the House. Following Tuesday’s election, Gonzales will head into a May runoff.
Speaking to her colleagues about the subject, Luna said:
I support Representative Mace’s subpoena here, as well as the amendment to it. And I just think it’s really disgusting how this institution protects itself because y’all just, half of them, voted to send this stuff to House Ethics, where you know it’s gonna die. We know that members of Congress are using taxpayer dollars to pay off sexual harassment. We just had a member of Congress literally sexual harass a woman that then lit herself on fire, and you guys all protected him! You guys all protected him — my own side, your side.
And so, if you guys wanna talk about victims, if you wanna go out and virtue signal, and then you guys are gonna kill her stuff on the floor and then try to pass– yeah, of course we should subpoena all this stuff. But just, I’m not gonna sit here and play games. I think it’s a complete fraud. I think that’s why the American people hate us! I think the midterms are coming up and everyone should go on record for this, and I hope that members are exposed for this. I hope — it goes back, I think, to the ’70s — because it’s wrong that it’s happening. It’s wrong that we cover up for it. It’s wrong that we can’t censure our own side because people are busy making deals, because you guys don’t wanna censure your side. It’s a deal that’s been cut and people hate us for it. So yeah, I support it.
Watch above via C-SPAN
The post House Republican Goes OFF in Hearing Over Colleague Accused of Harassing Staffer Who Set Herself on Fire: ‘Why the American People Hate Us!’ first appeared on Mediaite.