Appearing on MSNBC on Tuesday afternoon, former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele criticized the newly-elected House Republican leadership over their plans to gut the ethics committee, which will have the practical effect of protecting members of their own caucus.
Speaking with host Lindsey Reiser, Steele also called out the House Republicans for their proposed investigation that they feel will prove the Department of Justice has been "weaponized."
"I want to read a quote from a Democratic aide on the Judiciary Committee about this government weaponization committee," the MSNBC host began. "They said, 'This thing is so f*cking broad, It's Benghazi on steroids. It's crazy." What does this signal, Michael, about priorities in the House right now under a Republican majority and also how powerful does this make [Ohio Republican] Jim Jordan?"
After pointing out that the controversial Jordan is "powerful by virtue of the fact a significant number of folks in the caucus wanted him to be the speaker," he added that the new committee is being put together "..about retribution, not investigation because there's been some offense. There's been some criminal potential criminal activity. This is about trying to create exposure."
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"This will lead to nothing, but that's not the point," he explained. "The point is that they create a political maelstrom. I find it interesting on two fronts. One, they want to talk about the weaponization of the government."
"Well, a large amount of that weaponization occurred under Trump's administration. So I mean, Biden's been in office 18 months? How much weaponization took place in the last 18 months?" he laughed.
"This thing is so crazy,' he continued. "But here's the other thing: gutting the ethics committee. So you're going to gut the committee, the independent body that governs the ethics of the Congress. What signal does that send? It says you're not serious. It says within your own ranks there's rot and problems."
"I give you [newly-elected Republican] George Santos, just the tip of that iceberg," he suggested. "So there's a lot going on here. This is all about retribution politics, there's nothing substantive that's going to come out of this."
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MSNBC 01 10 2023 11 29 57youtu.be
