Ilhan Omar Calls GOP SCIF-Raiders ‘Gangsters’ Trying to Intimidate Witnesses ‘Against Their Leader’
Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar blasted Republicans who invaded a secure hearing room, comparing them to “gangsters” trying to deliver a message to witnesses “that if they were to make a statement that would get them in trouble, they might not survive.”
On Thursday’s edition of SiriusXM’s The Dean Obeidallah Show, host Dean Obeidallah asked Rep. Omar about the group of Republican lawmakers who stormed into a Secure Compartmentalized Information Facility (SCIF) on Capitol Hill, in violation of security protocols
“They barged in and interrupted a deposition taking place, and they did not apologize or explain why they didn’t remove their phones,” Omar said, noting that “These are recording devices – it’s easy to use them to hack. There is sensitive information and in the interests of national security — which Republicans always talk about. This, I think, was a very childish and dangerous move.”
Rep. Omar said that “There is a mobster mentality in the White House, and now it’s moving into the leadership of the Republican in the House.”
“And you saw that with what happened yesterday,” she continued. “Mobsters, gangsters are known, when there is a court hearing, to bring people into the room to line the back and stare down the person who is testifying against their member, their leader, whatever the case may be, to make sure they understand that if they were to make a statement that were going to get them in trouble, they might not survive.
“This is an intimidation tactic that is known worldwide, and that is the intimidation tactic they are deploying,” Omar said, and called it “shameful” that in addition to delaying the testimony by interrupting, the deposition was further delayed while the secure room was re-swept for devices.
Watch the clip above, via SiriusXM.
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