Catholic League president Bill Donohue is calling for sanctions against Rep. Ilhan Omar:
I am contacting House Ethics Committee chairman Rep. Ted Deutch (D) and Ranking Member Rep. Kenny Marchant (R) asking them to lead the way in imposing sanctions on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D).
The Somali freshman congresswoman from Minnesota has violated Rule XXIII, Section 1, of the Code of Official Conduct, which says, “A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.”
Rep. Omar violated this stricture when she tweeted the following unsubstantiated accusation against the Covington Catholic High School students.
“The boys were protesting a woman’s right to choose & yelled ‘it’s not rape if you enjoy it’—They were taunting 5 Black men before they surrounded [Nathan] Phillips and led racist chants—Sandmann’s family hired a right wing PR firm to write his non-apology.”
She has since taken down this vile tweet. The boys from Covington Catholic did not engage in racist rhetoric, never taunted the black activists and, most importantly, did not yell “it’s not rape if you enjoy it.” Rep. Deutch and Rep. Marchant should demand to see Rep. Omar’s evidence. If she had it, she would have released it by now and would not have taken down her lying tweet.
Rep. Omar has libeled these students and in doing so has promoted anti-Catholicism. She is supposed to act “creditably,” and not just in the House chamber, but “at all times.” Thus does she warrant sanctions.
I am not asking for censure. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer rejected a plea last week for censuring Rep. Steve King, fearing an onslaught of complaints that have free speech implications. Instead, he moved it to the Ethics Committee. That being the case, the Ethics Committee should now treat Rep. Omar the way they are Rep. King. The two of them have disgraced the House.
Contact Josh Rogin, chief of staff for Rep. Deutch: joshua.rogin@mail.house.gov
