Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) planned to introduce a formal resolution censuring Elise Stefanik on Wednesday, accusing her of touting the kind of conspiracy theories about voter fraud that launched the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, and publicly defending the rioters as “hostages.”
In a press release from Goldman’s office, the New York representative listed the many ways in which Stefanik has continued to support the insurrectionists after Jan. 6, including peddling dangerous conspiracy theories, trying to discredit Jack Smith’s indictment of Donald Trump, and filing “bogus and vindictive ethics complaints” against a federal judge who ruled in a case linked to the rioters.
“In putting her personal ambitions over her integrity, Congresswoman Stefanik has been Donald Trump’s biggest congressional cheerleader,” Goldman said. “Her rhetoric betrays her oath of office and the House of Representatives and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”
Stefanik had previously advocated that the Department of Justice prosecute the rioters, but recently began mimicking former president Trump, citing concerns for the treatment of Jan. 6 “hostages.”
While appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press on Jan. 7, Stefanik said, “We have a rule in Congress of oversight over our treatments of prisoners. And I believe we’re seeing the weaponization of the federal government against not just President Trump, but we’re seeing it against conservatives.”
