Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement today regarding his vote against the Democrats’ War Powers Resolution, H. Con. Res. 83, which will prevent the President from engaging in hostilities against Iran:
"Iran has been waging an actual war against the United States since 1979 after President Carter welcomed the Ayatollah back to Iran as a “Man of Peace.” General Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top terrorist commander, was responsible for the murder of hundreds of American troops and the maiming of many times more than that. Having been the subject of a previous U.N. travel ban, Soleimani had traveled extensively and on this occasion he was traveling to different countries organizing more attacks on Americans. It is incredible that some here in Congress have more apparent sympathy for a terrorist murderer than for the vast Americans he murdered.”
“This resolution presented on the House Floor today, H. Con. Res. 83, is designed to weaken our President at the very moment this nation should be standing in solidarity with him and against the terrorist aggression he is actually trying to stop. The sham impeachment has encouraged our enemies enough already. Now, instead of working together in a bipartisan effort to amend the existing Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF), Speaker Pelosi has once again chosen to place her personal abhorrence for President Trump over our own national security. As great American leaders have learned, weakness is provocative and gets Americans tortured and killed.”
Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement today regarding the news that the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign-Trade Zones Board has approved an application from Lufkin, Texas to establish a Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ):
"Despite some of the toxicity in Washington, D.C., this is a great day for the First District of Texas, the City of Lufkin, and the future of east Texas. We are grateful to our friend, Secretary Wilbur Ross, for his personal interest in getting this done. There were some serious challenges, but the knowledge that this designation was proper coupled with the determination to see it through overcame the obstacles faced by the City of Lufkin.
“The Foreign-Trade Zone designation will open up this great city to the global market, as well as, all the business and job opportunities that come with that market access. If the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement approved by the House of Representatives this week is also approved by the Senate, there will be an even greater opportunity for the dawning of a new era of economic growth for Lufkin.
“Bob Samford and his whole team in Lufkin deserve the most glowing accolades for their foresight, their determination, and their relentlessness. Proverbs tells us where there is no vision, the people perish. Bob and his team had vision and the area will be rewarded for generations to come."
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) turned the Democrats’ articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on their heads Wednesday evening, declaring: “The abuses, the obstruction of Congress, have come from Congress.”
Democrats unveiled two articles of impeachment on Tuesday morning. They did not, as they had suggested they would, offer articles alleging bribery and obstruction of justice. Rather, they accused the president of “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress.”
Gohmert turned those accusations around, arguing that it was Congress — through the Democratic majority running the House of Representatives — that had abused its power, and that was obstructing investigation into the facts.
He noted:
They talk about abuse of power, but they were willing to obscure evidence in a basement hearing, over and over. They are willing to block witnesses from coming in here and testifying before Congress. They are willing to obtain and publish phone records of people — there is no probable cause. There are no crimes by any of these people.
He said, concluding his remarks, his voice shaking:
Let me just say, I came in here. I did not want to get emotional, and I have sat through trials that are hard to sit through, but nothing like sitting this week in this committee hearing. Indeed, like Jefferson I tremble that God is just and His justice won’t sleep forever. But the abuses, the obstruction of Congress have come from Congress.
Gohmert later raised a point of order, asking for a copy of the amendment to the articles of impeachment so that Republicans could see all the crimes that Democrats were alleging Trump had committed.
Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement today regarding the Executive Order announced by President Trump targeting anti-Semitism in the United States – especially on college campuses:
“The vile anti-Semitic practices abounding unchecked on the campuses of America’s colleges and universities today should serve as a stark reminder of the origins one of the darkest periods in human history: the Holocaust. The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) began its demonization of the Jewish people through isolation and incitement of the German people to violence against its Jewish population.
The Nazi socialist government then brought about legal measures to strip Jews of their rights and property. The systematic dehumanization of the Jewish people quickly spiraled into the Nazi’s Final Solution which was an attempt to exterminate millions of Jewish people in their death camps or work them to death in the concentration camps.
We must never again allow circumstances to exist that would foster such hatred and actions. President Trump is a true leader and protector of our people and, in this instance, a guardian of America’s future in freedom for all of her citizens. By his actions today he again proves by his example that he is the leader of the free world.”
Seventeen Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday pledged to "resist vigorously" any efforts by Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., to conduct its impeachment probe of President Donald Trump "without regard for the fundamentally American principles of fairness and due process."
"Bipartisan cooperation has been the exception, rather than the rule," the Republicans told Nadler in a letter Tuesday that also was posted on Twitter.
"Under your leadership, bipartisan solutions to real problems affecting real Americans have been sacrificed in favor of committee Democrats' obsession with impeaching the president and undoing the 2016 election."
Nadler's committee begins its impeachment hearings on Wednesday — and Democrats are expected to call four constitutional scholars to testify.
Other signatories were Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner, Wis.; Steve Chabot, Ohio; Louie Gohmert, Texas; Jim Jordan, Ohio; Ken Buck, Colo.; John Ratcliffe, Texas; Martha Roby, Ala.; Matt Gaetz, Fla.; Mike Johnson, La.; Andy Biggs, Ariz.; Tom McClintock, Calif.; Debbie Lesko, Ariz.; Guy Reschenthaler, Pa.; Ben Cline, Va.; Kelly Armstrong, N.D.; and W. Gregory Steube, Fla.
They reminded Nadler of previous letters demanding that the Judiciary Committee provide President Trump with "the due process" not provided by the House Intelligence Committee and its chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., during its investigation phase that ended last month.
"Committee Republicans stand ready to work with you to address the above challenges," the lawmakers said.
"However, should you continue to pursue this 'impeachment inquiry,' and do so without regard for the fundamentally American principles of fairness and due process, we will resist vigorously.
Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement today honoring America’s veterans on Veterans Day 2019:
“Today we honor our men and women who have served bravely and passionately in the United States Military. Our military members have placed themselves in harm’s way for the freedoms we enjoy today. We are thankful to these brave individuals for their service and devotion to this great nation. Their loyalty to the stars and stripes and to the people of this nation must never be forgotten, lest we lose that for which they fought and sacrificed."
"Additionally, we lift up in prayer the families and friends of all who have lost loved ones in the brutality of their fight for us – the warriors who paid 'the last full measure of devotion.' May their legacies and valor live on in our hearts – as their devotion is interwoven into the enduring fabric of this country.”
“We truly cannot thank our veterans and their families enough. May God continue to bless the United States of America and shine His favor down on the patriots who have risked life and limb for liberty.”
Yesterday, the Congressional Justice for Warriors Caucus (CJWC) delivered a letter to President Donald J. Trump praising his consideration of the cases of 1Lt. Clint Lorance, Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher and Maj. Matt Golsteyn for action as soon as November 11, 2019, on Veterans Day.
Pursuing justice for these warriors has been of paramount importance to the CJWC, which has worked diligently on their behalf.
The caucus also requested review of two additional cases: Sgt. Derrick Miller and 1Sgt. John Hatley.
CJWC founding co-chairmen Louie Gohmert and Duncan Hunter released the following statements:
“As founding co-chair of the House Congressional Justice for Warriors Caucus, I was delighted to hear Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s report that President Trump will act on the cases of 1Lt. Clint Lorance, Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher and Maj. Matt Golsteyn. These men are true American heroes who served our nation with honor. Today, I am humbly requesting that the President also act in the cases of two more American heroes: Sgt. Derrick Miller and 1Sgt. John Hatley. All these men mentioned are deserving of having the findings and sentences of their cases disapproved. In the case of Maj. Golsteyn, whose court martial date is set for February 2020, I have submitted a letter asking the President to assume jurisdiction over Golsteyn’s case and dismiss the charges with prejudice. These warriors have been sacrificed at the altar of politically correct Rules of Engagement for far too long. It is time we take decisive action and put an end to the wrongful prosecution of our military heroes.”
-Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01)
“Thank God for President Trump, who had the courage to stand up to a military bureaucracy that wanted to maintain the status quo. Unfortunately, a Presidential action to right the wrongs of our military justice system shouldn’t have been necessary. Common sense and justice should have prevailed in these cases. Instead, bureaucracy and politics got in the way, and cost our warriors years of their lives that they cannot get back. We owe it to these men to fix our broken military justice system and ensure that history does not repeat itself. Together, with the Congressional Justice for Warriors Caucus, that is what I will do.”
Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement on the 10th Anniversary of the Fort Hood shooting in Killeen, Texas:
“Ten years ago, today, 13 precious people – soldiers and civilians – were brutally massacred at the hands of evil. The shooting spree at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas is still to this day the worst mass murder at a U.S. military installation in U.S. history.
“The malicious actions of radical Islamists have claimed far too many innocent lives. Even political correctness should not have prevented people from noticing he had been radicalized and was a threat. Thankfully, we now have a President and an administration who understand radical Islamic jihadists are a danger to our way of life.”
“Our hearts continue to empathize with the loved ones of the victims whose lives were tragically cut short that day. We can honor their loss by fighting apathy or political correctness that turns a blind eye to oncoming terror.”
Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement regarding the news announced by President Trump that the deadly leader of the Islamic State group was killed in a US military operation in northwest Syria:
"Yesterday was a great day for Americans who love justice. Under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Trump, one of the world’s most ruthless, evil, terrorist leaders, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi along with his reign of terror was brought to an abrupt but appropriate end. We owe our brave patriots who planned and participated a debt of gratitude for carrying out such a dangerous but superbly effective mission. The heroic actions of our U.S. military members have ensured that al-Baghdadi will never callously murder again.”
“Though thIs is a significant victory for the United States in the war against ISIS, radical jihadists should understand the war against them is not over. We may move troops to different places, but we are never so far away that we can’t come back and clean up a murderous, malevolent cesspool of terrorists. Thankfully, we currently have a President who delivers justice to our evil enemies instead of mounds of money.”
With all the talk of whistleblowers in the media lately, it’s an opportune time to take a look at what it actually means to “blow the whistle” from within the federal government. The Obama administration dealt with leakers quite harshly, so they were able to control what got out about the numerous scandals. In fact, the Obama administration prosecuted more leakers under the Espionage Act for leaking than all other administrations put together. By contrast, today leakers of fourth-hand hearsay in the Trump administration are heralded by the left as meritorious whistleblowers.
The Obama administration found it much easier to fire people suspected of disloyalty without the bulk of the media raising any issue at all. The Obama administration was vicious in even spying on reporters, as we learned about their surveillance of not just a Fox News reporter but also even the Associated Press. Not even a whimper was heard from the “mainstream” over those abuses. They just lined up and said, ‘Thank you sir, may I have another.’
What we’re seeing now does not qualify for whistleblower status, but instead is more like anonymous newly legalized leaking of classified materials through multiple levels of hearsay for political purposes to harm a duly-elected President and his ability to perform his job. As we have learned, the Intel Inspector General (IG) changed the rule after the complaint was known in order to allow hearsay complaints, but the IG dishonestly backdated the rule change so that damage could be done to President Trump. We now need an IG investigation of the Intel IG.
In a just and fair nation, actual whistleblowers are people who disclose first-hand evidence that they reasonably believe is evidence of illegality, such as fraud or wasteful spending. Properly reporting the abuse of government resources and providing hard evidence of the abuse is essential to good governance in our country. A hearsay-spreading gossip is in no way a laudable whistleblower. Instead, someone so power-hungry and manipulative invites fraudulent and politically-biased claims, exactly like we are currently witnessing.
Whistleblower laws were meant to protect federal employees from losing their jobs as payback for these factual disclosures when their identity was revealed. If the identity of a legitimate whistleblower with firsthand knowledge is going to be kept secret, there is no need for whistleblower laws to protect them from reprisals. This is especially true in the intelligence community where whistleblowers risk having their security clearance revoked without due process or just cause. In some cases, reporting misconduct can even cost them their career and livelihood by these means.
As far as what happens to legitimate whistleblowers, one need look no further than the case of Adam Lovinger, a Trump-supporting strategic affairs analyst who worked for the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment (ONA). Mr. Lovinger became concerned that the Pentagon was wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on outside contractors commissioned to write academic-style papers instead of authentic net assessments of future threats.
Although the sole mission of ONA was to create these net assessments, it had not produced a net assessment in over a decade, relegating the duties of its staff to outside contractors. The amount of the questionable payments under these contracts were well outside of the norm for ONA subject matter experts for such assessments, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars more.
One of the recipient contractors in this scheme that Lovinger identified was an obscure college professor, a man the world would later learn was one of the key players in the coup attempt against then-candidate Donald J. Trump: Stefan Halper. Mr. Lovinger had no idea he had just stepped on a landmine, when all he did was discern outrageously wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars.
Rather than leaking classified information to the press, as certain politically motivated disinformation operatives would do while claiming to be a “whistleblower,” Mr. Lovinger alerted his chain of command inside the Pentagon through a series of internal emails. Despite exercising the proper reporting channels, Mr. Lovinger would eventually be stripped of his security clearance, leaving him virtually unemployable in the areas of his expertise. Over two and a half years later he remains suspended without pay and without his security clearance as the bureaucrats continue their coverup for bad actors in the Obama administration who weaponized the security clearance process.
This egregious retaliatory action was why I first drafted the Adam S. Lovinger Whistleblower Reprisal Act in 2018. If enacted, this bill would make it a federal crime to use background checks as a political weapon in an effort to curb the largely unpunished trend of officials in Washington. These swamp-dwelling insider trolls have leveraged security clearances against potential whistleblowers who would otherwise report instances of corruption in the federal government.
Democrats in Congress and their willing accomplices in the media have given little to no coverage of Mr. Lovinger’s fact-filled, document-driven, honorable report. Contrast that with the way those same leftists have glorified the anonymous, malevolent gossiper and it reveals how self-serving their motivations truly are. Rather than protecting brave individuals who come forward with legitimate reports of government misconduct and malfeasance, like Mr. Lovinger, the Democrats instead choose to champion a politically expedient non-factual hearsay account to prop up their ongoing anti-Trump narrative.
When this type of flagrant bias is permitted, our nation’s whistleblowing mechanisms are corrupted and weaponized as we are seeing now with anonymous, hearsay accusations. Whistleblowers are supposed to identify themselves, testify, and provide documentation of wrongdoing. The current, third-world-style politics on display now was ramped up to new levels by the Obama Administration which has deeply divided this nation. The hatred is not coming from conservatives who want to keep our republic. Instead, it is seething anger that blinds the left into decreeing that there is no room for different views from their own. Some Trump-hating elitists need to awaken from their angry stupor, and allow America to once again be a place where hope blossoms and the third world has an example of justice to which they can aspire.
Rep. Louie Gohmert is a Republican Congressman from Texas.
Serving his eighth term in the United States House of Representatives, Congressman Louie Gohmert was first sworn in on January 4, 2005. He proudly represents the First District of Texas which encompasses more than 12 counties stretching nearly 120 miles down the state’s eastern border with Louisiana.
As the recipient of numerous awards such as Endowment for Middle East Truth’s “Speaker of the Truth Award” and Freedom Works’ “Freedom Fighter Award,” Louie passionately speaks in Washington on the issues he and most of us hold dearest. He is an unapologetic warrior for our most cherished freedoms which are under attack and some are even being marginalized and diminished.
He has not only been sought as a key note speaker all over the U.S., but has been and invited speaker at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England, as well as other countries. After the Obama administration condemned the largest peaceful demonstration in the history of the world in Egypt in June of 2013 which resulted in the ouster of Pres.Morsi who was maneuvering toward a dictatorship, some American leaders demanded the Muslim Brotherhood dictator be put back in office where he had seized so much power, but Louie became the first and most public elected US official to commend the Egyptians and making him an Egyptian populist hero, earning an award from the Chamber of Commerce in Cairo.
He is a staunch advocate for the U.S. being the best friend Israel could have in the world as an acknowledged friend of Prime Minister Netanyahu.
He is a tireless advocate on the House Floor, all over east Texas and the nation, as well as in the national and international media on many critical issues. These include not only the necessity to fight terrorism from its most prominent source, radical Islam, but also promoting the preservation of U.S. Constitutional authority, freedoms of religion and speech, state’s rights, 2nd amendment rights, and all those rights most of us hold dearest.
Louie is a bold defender of America’s founding principles and is constantly coming up with big, innovative ideas solidly based on conservative principles and the ideals that has served as this nation’s bedrock since birth.
Congressman Gohmert serves on the House Judiciary Committee playing a vital role on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee, as well as, the Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee. He is also a member of the House Natural Resources Committee serving on the National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee and is honored to have the title of Republican Leader on the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Prior to being elected to serve in Congress, Louie was elected to three terms as District Judge in Smith County, Texas. During his tenure on the bench, he gained national and international attention for some of his innovative rulings. He was later appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry to complete a term as the Chief Justice of the 12th Court of Appeals.
Louie received his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University where he acquired a four year active duty commitment to the Army from an Army scholarship, and where he was Brigade Commander in the Corps while also serving as Class President for both Corps and Civilian students. He later graduated from Baylor School of Law where he was also Class President, President of the Moot Court Society, and won a number of awards including an award for his Law Review Article on torts. He is also a veteran having served his country as a Captain in the U.S. Army.
He and his wife Kathy are the proud parents of three daughters. Their family attends Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, where Louie has served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher for many years. He now frequently speaks or preaches at churches throughout his district and around the country.
