Lesko, D
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">=</span></font></h2><div>sedition caucus</div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">alec alum
</font></div><h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">made it to the show, wacko pending, achieved</span></font></h2><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">show yr papers?
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">=</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">jan 6 hearing #7</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">asked about safety plan ~ antiFa j6 but also TRUMPISTAS!
</font></font></font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;" /></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">=
</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">misspoke about shooting her grandkids</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">=</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">npr:</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The election denialists also frequently bump elbows with people in power.
<b>NPR
found that over the past year and a half, the men met or appeared with
at least 78 elected officials at the federal, state and local levels —
many of whom will have a role in how future elections are run and
certified.</b>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At
least two secretaries of state, two U.S. senators, 10 U.S.
representatives, two state attorneys general and two lieutenant
governors met or appeared with the figures NPR tracked. More than three
dozen members of state legislatures, many of whom have introduced
legislation in their states that would affect how Americans cast
ballots, have also appeared at events with them</span>.
"Our voices have gotten bigger and bigger every single day since last year and you cannot stop that," said <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Mike Lindell, at a rally in January of 2022 attended by three members of Arizona's congressional delegation, <b>Debbie Lesko, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar,</b> all of whom voted not to certify Arizona's election results at the U.S. Capitol a year earlier. "We will get our country back."</span></font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;" /></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></font></div><div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">this rachets up on builds on d'souza BS about how dems are predatory on POC AA?</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/free-base-pipe/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium;">https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/free-base-pipe/</a></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style=""><font style=""><font style=""><font style=""><font style=""><font style=""><font style="">no lnx vid twt?</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Right-wing website made up viral fake claim Republicans like Marco Rubio are now pushing: report</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">[Marco Rubio embarrasses himself again by doubling down on false attack of defense secretary]</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">David Badash and The New Civil Rights Movement February 10, 2022</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>This week Republican lawmakers and voters have had a great time pushing a false claim that the Biden administration is spending tens of millions of dollars to pay for "free crack pipes" for drug abusers</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> The claim came from a report by the right-wing website Washington Free Beacon</span>, including a quote falsely attributed to an HHS spokesperson, according to The Daily Beast.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It's no surprise The Daily Beast is calling "a lie" made its way to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and a U.S. Senator's Twitter account.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>"The Washington Free Beacon seemed to take a big leap to assert that free crack pipes would be part of a harm reduction package</b>," The Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberg reports, calling it "a lie rocketed around conservative media."</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The report, published Monday and titled <b>“Biden Admin To Fund Crack Pipe Distribution To Advance ‘Racial Equity,’” cited an HHS spokesperson as confirming that a sweeping harm reduction package “will provide pipes” to smoke, quote, “any illicit substance.”</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Free Beacon's article reads: <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“A spokesman for the agency told the Washington Free Beacon that these kits will provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and ‘any illicit substance.’”</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Daily Beast reviewed the email chain between the Washington Free Beacon and HHS. <b>It's unclear how the Free Beacon made the "any illicit substance" claim, given the HHS email specifically states no federal laws would be broken.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>In fact, The Daily Beast reports the HHS spokesperson says the Free Beacon “omitted the information shared with him about the grantees needing to comply with federal, state, and local laws—the very language that would prohibit crack pipes.</b>”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The damage has already been done. The "free crack pipes" claim is now one more myth in conservatives' false reality.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Arizona far-right Republican </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Lesko</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> made the false claim on the floor of the House of Representatives:</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Florida Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, linking to an article literally titled: "Biden administration denies funding programs that hand out crack pipes to prevent infection and promote 'racial equity'" says in a video posted to his Twitter account, "The Biden administration is going to be <b>sending crack pipes and meth pipes, targeting minority communities,</b>" a claim he knows is a lie.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox News entertainers Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity both made the most of the claim, with The Daily Mail reporting: "Tucker Carlson slams policy to hand out free crack pipes and needles warning it 'will result in addicts shooting up on the streets.'"</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The genie is out of the bottle, and no one on the right has any intention or desire to put it back.</div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">t’s well known that Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar
participated in a December 2020 meeting with the White House discussing
strategies to keep then-President Donald Trump in office.</font><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Newly
released records from the Jan. 6 select committee reveal that Rep.
Debbie Lesko, a West Valley Republican, was also at the meeting where
some elected officials and Trump advisers discussed ways to overturn the
election.</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko had previously signed onto legal
efforts to throw out election results in other states, such as Georgia
and Michigan. But she’s been less public about any misgivings she might
have about Arizona’s election than some of her Republican colleagues in
Congress.</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The latest documents were disclosed in a bid to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/gop-lawmakers-deeply-involved-in-trump-plans-to-overturn-election-new-evidence-suggests-00027340" target="blank">throw out a lawsuit by a former Trump adviser dodging cooperation with the committee.</a></font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">wiki 7 22 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko</a>
</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">d</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>ebra Kay Lesko</b> (née <b>Lorenz</b>; born November 14, 1958) is an American politician and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)">Republican</a> member of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives">United States House of Representatives</a>, representing <span data-sort-value="Arizona08 !"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona%27s_8th_congressional_district" title="Arizona's 8th congressional district">Arizona's 8th congressional district</a></span> since 2018. The district is in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Valley(Phoenix_metropolitan_area)" title="West Valley (Phoenix metropolitan area)">West Valley</a> portion of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_metropolitan_area" title="Phoenix metropolitan area">Valley of the Sun</a> and includes <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendale,Arizona" title="Glendale, Arizona">Glendale</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surprise,Arizona" title="Surprise, Arizona">Surprise</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_City,Arizona" title="Sun City, Arizona">Sun City</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoria,_Arizona" title="Peoria, Arizona">Peoria</a>, and part of western Phoenix.
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lesko served in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Senate" title="Arizona Senate">Arizona Senate</a> from 2015 to 2018. She was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_pro_tempore" title="President pro tempore">president pro tempore</a> of the Arizona Senate from 2017 to 2018.<sup id="cite_ref-AL_1-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-AL-1">[1]</a></sup> Lesko also served as a member of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_House_of_Representatives" title="Arizona House of Representatives">Arizona House of Representatives</a> from 2009 until 2015. She became the Representative for Arizona's 8th congressional district after winning a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Arizona%27s_8th_congressional_district_special_election" title="2018 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election">2018 special election</a></span>.<sup id="cite_ref-AZC1_2-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-AZC1-2">[2]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /></font>
<ul><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Early_life_and_education"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Early life and education</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Early_career"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Early career</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#U.S._House_of_Representatives"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">U.S. House of Representatives</span></a></font>
<ul><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Elections"><span class="tocnumber">3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Elections</span></a></font>
<ul><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-5"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#2018_special_election"><span class="tocnumber">3.1.1</span> <span class="toctext">2018 special election</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-6"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#2018"><span class="tocnumber">3.1.2</span> <span class="toctext">2018</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-7"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#2020"><span class="tocnumber">3.1.3</span> <span class="toctext">2020</span></a></font></li></ul>
</li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Tenure"><span class="tocnumber">3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Tenure</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Committee_assignments"><span class="tocnumber">3.3</span> <span class="toctext">Committee assignments</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Caucus_memberships"><span class="tocnumber">3.4</span> <span class="toctext">Caucus memberships</span></a></font></li></ul>
</li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Political_positions"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Political positions</span></a></font>
<ul><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Abortion"><span class="tocnumber">4.1</span> <span class="toctext">Abortion</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Donald_Trump"><span class="tocnumber">4.2</span> <span class="toctext">Donald Trump</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Economy,_taxes_and_regulation"><span class="tocnumber">4.3</span> <span class="toctext">Economy, taxes and regulation</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Education"><span class="tocnumber">4.4</span> <span class="toctext">Education</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-16"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Environment_and_energy"><span class="tocnumber">4.5</span> <span class="toctext">Environment and energy</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-17"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Gun_policy"><span class="tocnumber">4.6</span> <span class="toctext">Gun policy</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-18"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Health_care"><span class="tocnumber">4.7</span> <span class="toctext">Health care</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-19"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Immigration"><span class="tocnumber">4.8</span> <span class="toctext">Immigration</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-20"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#LGBT_rights"><span class="tocnumber">4.9</span> <span class="toctext">LGBT rights</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-21"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Foreign_policy"><span class="tocnumber">4.10</span> <span class="toctext">Foreign policy</span></a></font></li></ul>
</li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-22"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#Electoral_history"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Electoral history</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-23"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-24"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#References"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></font></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-25"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></font></li></ul>
</div>
<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Early_life_and_education">Early life and education</span></font></h2><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko was born in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheboygan,_Wisconsin" title="Sheboygan, Wisconsin">Sheboygan, Wisconsin</a>, and grew up nearby, the daughter of Delores and Don Lorenz. She received a bachelor's degree in business from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Wisconsin" class="mw-redirect" title="University of Wisconsin">University of Wisconsin</a> and in the 1980s moved to Arizona, owning a construction sales business.<sup id="cite_ref-Giroux_3-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-Giroux-3">[3]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In 1985, she married Jeffrey Allen Ignas. In 1988, Lesko was charged in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conroe,_Texas" title="Conroe, Texas">Conroe, Texas</a>,
with a misdemeanor for tampering with government records. The case was
dropped in 1994. In 1988, Ignas was sentenced to 10 years in prison for
fraud</b>. After serving only four years of the sentence, he was released
from prison in 1992. In October 1992, he and Lesko filed for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapter_13" class="mw-redirect" title="Chapter 13">Chapter 13</a>
bankruptcy protection. The couple was also sued twice in 1993: for
failure to pay a $10,000 rental equipment bill and for an additional
unpaid $11,000 bill. They filed for bankruptcy again that year. Ignas
was physically abusive to Lesko, including punching her in the stomach
when she was pregnant with her daughter. In 1993, Lesko filed for
divorce. The next year, the second bankruptcy protection case was
closed.<sup id="cite_ref-Hansen_4-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-Hansen-4">[4]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
Ignas, now known as Jeffrey Allen Herald, is again incarcerated at the
Arizona Department of Corrections, with a release date of June 2022,
followed by supervised probation. Debbie later married Joe Lesko.<sup id="cite_ref-Giroux_3-1" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-Giroux-3">[3]</a></sup>
Lesko has used other names, including Debbie Harris, Debra Ignas, Debra
Schultz, Debra Howard and Debra Kay Lorenz. Her name changes were
associated with her ex-husband, who also went by different names.</span><sup id="cite_ref-Hansen_4-1" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-Hansen-4">[4]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Early_career">Early career</span></font></h2><table class="box-Expand_section plainlinks metadata ambox mbox-small-left ambox-content" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image">[flag inc]
</td><td class="mbox-text">
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the early 2000s, Lesko became involved in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoria_Unified_School_District" title="Peoria Unified School District">Peoria Unified School District</a>. She served on the district's community committee.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> In 2006, she ran for school board. She was endorsed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Franks" title="Trent Franks">Trent Franks</a>. She placed fourth out of five candidates. She participated in school board meetings and was a contributor to <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arizona_Republic" title="The Arizona Republic">The Arizona Republic</a></i>. Her contributions to the newspaper included opinion pieces about illegal immigration and domestic violence.</span><sup id="cite_ref-Hansen_4-2" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-Hansen-4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">[</span>4]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="U.S._House_of_Representatives">U.S. House of Representatives</span></font></h2><h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Elections">Elections</span></font></h3><h4><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="2018_special_election">2018 special election</span></font></h4><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Arizona%27s_8th_congressional_district_special_election" title="2018 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election">2018 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election</a></font></div>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On December 20, 2017, Lesko announced she would run in the special election to replace Representative <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Franks" title="Trent Franks">Trent Franks</a>,
who resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment</b>. Her state senate
district included the bulk of the congressional district. She also
announced that her resignation from the Arizona Senate.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> Although Arizona's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resign-to-run_laws" class="mw-redirect" title="Resign-to-run laws">resign-to-run laws</a>
allowed her to remain in the state senate since she was running in a
special election (and she was in the final year of her term in any
event), she resigned on January 8, 2018.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lesko won the Republican nomination and faced the Democratic nominee, physician <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiral_Tipirneni" title="Hiral Tipirneni">Hiral Tipirneni</a>, in the general election on April 24.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> She was endorsed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States" title="President of the United States">President</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump">Donald Trump</a>, who said that Lesko was a "conservative Republican</span>".<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>She won the election on April 24, with 52.6% of the vote to Tipirneni's 47.4.</b><sup id="cite_ref-:3_10-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:3-10">[10]</a></sup> The win was by a narrower margin than expected,<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup> with observers suggesting that it was indicative of a coming Democratic wave in the 2018 midterm elections.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup> It was the closest contest in what is now the 8th since 1976, when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Stump" title="Bob Stump">Bob Stump</a> won what was then the 3rd District with just 47% of the vote<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup> (the district was renumbered as the 2nd in 2003, and has been the 8th since 2013).
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the Associated Press, the election sent "a big
message to Republicans nationwide: Even the reddest of districts in a
red state can be in play this year."<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h4><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="2018">2018</span></font></h4><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Arizona#District_8" title="2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona">2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona § District 8</a></font></div>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Lesko defeated Tipirneni again for a full two-year term by a slightly wider margin, taking 55.5% to Tipirneni's 44.5%.</b><sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup>
It was still the closest general election in the district in 42 years,
and the closest a Democrat had come to winning a full term in the
district since Stump switched parties in 1982.
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In January 2018, Lesko's campaign committee, Re-elect Debbie
Lesko for Senate, gave $50,000 to the Conservative Leadership for
Arizona, a federal PAC authorized to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_expenditure" title="Independent expenditure">spend independently of other campaigns</a>. It was created eight days before taking the money from Lesko's state campaign committee.<sup id="cite_ref-CFC_17-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-CFC-17">[17]</a></sup>
The PAC raised almost no other cash and used the money to support Lesko
with yard signs, while her congressional campaign spent heavily on
television ads. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Lovas" title="Phil Lovas">Phil Lovas</a>,
a candidate in the Republican primary, complained to the Federal
Election Commission and Arizona Attorney General alleging multiple
violations in February 2018.<sup id="cite_ref-CFC_17-1" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-CFC-17">[17]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The PAC maneuver also prompted criticism from Lesko's other opponent in the Republican primary, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Montenegro" title="Steve Montenegro">Steve Montenegro</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-CFC_17-2" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-CFC-17">[17]</a></sup> In March 2018, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_Legal_Center" title="Campaign Legal Center">Campaign Legal Center</a>
filed a federal campaign finance law violation complaint against Lesko,
alleging that her transfer of $50,000 from her state campaign to an
independent group that spent nearly all the cash backing her
congressional run was illegal</b>.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h4><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="2020">2020</span></font></h4><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Arizona#District_8" title="2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona">2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona § District 8</a></font></div>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In the 2020 election, Lesko defeated Democratic nominee Michael Muscato with 60% of the vote</b>.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Tenure">Tenure</span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">During the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic" title="COVID-19 pandemic">COVID-19 pandemic</a>, Lesko appeared at a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_post-election_Donald_Trump_rallies" class="mw-redirect" title="List of post-election Donald Trump rallies">Trump rally</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa,_Oklahoma" title="Tulsa, Oklahoma">Tulsa, Oklahoma</a>, at a time when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus" title="Coronavirus">coronavirus</a> cases were surging across the nation</span>.<sup id="cite_ref-:4_20-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:4-20">[20]</a></sup>
When asked about the public health risk the rally posed, she responded,
"I think the Trump administration and the campaign is doing all it can
by doing temperature checks and handing out masks."<sup id="cite_ref-:4_20-1" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:4-20">[20]</a></sup>
She defended the rally organizers' decision not to require face masks.
During the time, she posted pictures of herself among people; in some
pictures she wore a mask, in others she did not.<sup id="cite_ref-:4_20-2" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:4-20">[20]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As of October 2021, Lesko had voted in line with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden" title="Joe Biden">Joe Biden</a>'s stated position 13.9% of the time.</span><sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Committee_assignments">Committee assignments</span></font></h3><ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Homeland_Security" title="United States House Committee on Homeland Security">Committee on Homeland Security</a></font>
<ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ranking Member, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Homeland_Security_Subcommittee_on_Transportation_and_Maritime_Security" title="United States House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security">Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Homeland_Security_Subcommittee_on_Border_Security,_Facilitation_and_Operations" title="United States House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation and Operations">Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation and Operations</a></font></li></ul></li><li><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_the_Judiciary" title="United States House Committee on the Judiciary">Committee on the Judiciary</a></font></span>
<ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Judiciary_Subcommittee_on_Immigration_and_Citizenship" title="United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship">Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Judiciary_Subcommittee_on_Crime,_Terrorism_and_Homeland_Security" title="United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security">Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security</a><sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup></font></li></ul></li></ul>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Caucus_memberships">Caucus memberships</span></font></h3><ul><li><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Caucus" title="Freedom Caucus">Freedom Caucus</a><sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup></font></span></li><li><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Study_Committee" title="Republican Study Committee">Republican Study Committee</a><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-24">[24]</a></sup></font></span></li></ul>
<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Political_positions">Political positions</span></font></h2><h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Abortion">Abortion</span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko opposes <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion" title="Abortion">abortion</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup> She has proposed legislation to give employers religious exemptions from providing contraceptives in health insurance plans.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-27">[27]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-28">[28]</a></sup>
She has proposed legislation that would allow health officials to
conduct warrantless and unannounced inspections of abortion clinics,
which critics said undermined the privacy of the clinics' patients.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-29">[29]</a></sup> She supported the 2022 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women%27s_Health_Organization" title="Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization">overturning of <i>Roe v. Wade</i></a>.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-30">[30]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Donald_Trump">Donald Trump</span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko has been described as a loyal ally of former President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump">Donald Trump</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-:4_20-3" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:4-20">[20]</a></sup> In December 2019, she voted against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Donald_Trump" title="Impeachment of Donald Trump">impeaching him</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-31">[31]</a></sup> She said there is "no proof, none, that the president has committed an impeachable offense."<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-32">[32]</a></sup> In defending Trump, she claimed that he had not asked President of Ukraine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelensky" class="mw-redirect" title="Volodymyr Zelensky">Volodymyr Zelensky</a> to investigate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden" title="Joe Biden">Joe Biden</a>, his opponent in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.presidential_election,2020" class="mw-redirect" title="U.S. presidential election, 2020">2020 presidential election</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-33">[33]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In December 2020, Lesko was one of 126 Republican members of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives">House of Representatives</a> to sign an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicus_brief" class="mw-redirect" title="Amicus brief">amicus brief</a> in support of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_v.Pennsylvania" title="Texas v. Pennsylvania">Texas v. Pennsylvania</a></i>, a lawsuit filed at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Supreme Court of the United States">United States Supreme Court</a> contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Biden defeated Trump.</span><sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-34">[34]</a></sup> The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing(law)" title="Standing (law)">standing</a> under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Three_of_the_United_States_Constitution" title="Article Three of the United States Constitution">Article III of the Constitution</a> to challenge the results of an election held by another state.<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-35">[35]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:1s_36-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:1s-36">[36]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-37">[37]</a></sup><b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Speaker of the United States House of Representatives">House Speaker</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi" title="Nancy Pelosi">Nancy Pelosi</a> issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion".</b><sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-38"><b>[</b>38]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-39">[39]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lesko was one of the 139 Republican representatives to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempts_to_overturn_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election" title="Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election">vote to overturn the results</a> of the 2020 presidential election in Congress at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_United_States_Electoral_College_vote_count" title="2021 United States Electoral College vote count">2021 United States Electoral College vote count</a>.</span><sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-40">[40]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span id="Economy.2C_taxes_and_regulation"><span class="mw-headline" id="Economy,_taxes_and_regulation">Economy, taxes and regulation</span></span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lesko has said that she would have voted for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Cuts_and_Jobs_Act_of_2017" title="Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017">Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017</a>, the Republican Party's 2017 tax overhaul.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_41-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:0-41">[41]</a></sup> She favors a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_budget_amendment" title="Balanced budget amendment">balanced budget amendment</a> to the Constitution, and said that "on the federal level, there has to be a lot of areas where we can cut spending</span>."<sup id="cite_ref-:0_41-1" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:0-41">[41]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">In 2017, Lesko championed legislation that would allow <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payday_loan" title="Payday loan">payday lenders</a> to provide loans at annual interest rates as high as 164%.<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-42">[42]</a></sup> In 2016, she opposed efforts to increase the minimum wage in Arizona to $10 by 2017 and $12 by 2020.</span><sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-43">[43]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Education">Education</span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lesko favors empowering private schools and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_schools_in_the_United_States" title="Charter schools in the United States">charter schools</a>.</span><sup id="cite_ref-:1_44-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:1-44">[44]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Environment_and_energy">Environment and energy</span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Asked about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change" title="Climate change">climate change</a>,
Lesko said "Is some of it, maybe, human-caused? Possibly. But certainly
not the majority of it. I think it just goes through cycles and it has
to do a lot with the sun. So no, I'm not a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming" class="mw-redirect" title="Global warming">global warming</a> proponent.</span>"<sup id="cite_ref-:2_45-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:2-45">[45]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">In 2016, Lesko crafted a measure that would give Arizona
utilities the right to charge separate rates for customers who produced
their own energy through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_panels" class="mw-redirect" title="Solar panels">solar panels</a> in order to prevent $600 million in subsidies from non-solar customers to solar customers.<sup id="cite_ref-Services_46-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-Services-46">[46]</a></sup> She crafted the measure with the utilities' assistance.</span><sup id="cite_ref-Services_46-1" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-Services-46">[46]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Gun_policy">Gun policy</span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko opposes changes to existing gun laws, saying "I think there's enough laws. The laws need to be enforced."<sup id="cite_ref-:0_41-2" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:0-41">[41]</a></sup> She has received an "A" rating from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRA" class="mw-redirect" title="NRA">NRA</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-47">[47]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Health_care">Health care</span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lesko opposes <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_care" title="Universal health care">universal health care</a> and favors repealing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affordable_Care_Act" title="Affordable Care Act">Affordable Care Act</a> (Obamacare</span>).<sup id="cite_ref-:0_41-3" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:0-41">[41]</a></sup> She opposed Arizona's expansion of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicaid" title="Medicaid">Medicaid</a> coverage and sued former Arizona Governor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brewer" title="Jan Brewer">Jan Brewer</a> after she expanded the program.<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-48">[48]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Lesko has said that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccine" title="COVID-19 vaccine">COVID-19 vaccine</a> distribution should prioritize American citizens over those who are in the country illegally</b>.<sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-49">[49]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2017, Lesko sponsored and passed a bill in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_State_Senate" class="mw-redirect" title="Arizona State Senate">Arizona State Senate</a> that created a process for challenging a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_billing" title="Balance billing">surprise medical bill</a><sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-50">[50]</a></sup>
when care is received from an out-of-network doctor at an in-network
facility. Lesko said, "I knew this was an ongoing problem. I had seen
reports that the media had done of different patients through no fault
of their own were getting these surprise medical bills."<sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-51">[51]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Immigration">Immigration</span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Lesko made the construction of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico%E2%80%93United_States_border" title="Mexico–United States border">border wall on the Mexico border</a></span> the centerpiece of her 2018 campaign, and pledged to back the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_administration" class="mw-redirect" title="Trump administration">Trump administration</a>'s hardline positions on border security and immigration reform.<sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-52">[52]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-53">[53]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:1_44-1" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-:1-44">[44]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="LGBT_rights">LGBT rights</span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko strongly opposes the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equality_Act_(United_States)" title="Equality Act (United States)">Equality Act</a>, a bill that would expand the federal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964" title="Civil Rights Act of 1964">Civil Rights Act of 1964</a> to ban <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination" title="Discrimination">discrimination</a> based on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_orientation" title="Sexual orientation">sexual orientation</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity" title="Gender identity">gender identity</a>. She urged Congress members to vote against the bill.<sup id="cite_ref-54" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-54">[54]</a></sup><sup class="noprint Inline-Template noprint noexcerpt Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[</sup></font>
</p>
<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Foreign_policy">Foreign policy</span></font></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lesko was among 60 Republicans voting against condemning Trump's withdrawal from Syria.</span><sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-55">[55]</a></sup></font>
</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko was among 19 House Republicans to vote against the final passage of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.<sup id="cite_ref-56" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Lesko#cite_note-56">[56]</a></sup></font>
</p>
<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Electoral_history">Electoral history</span></font></h2><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Debbie_Lesko(27816240978).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Debbie_Lesko%2827816240978%29.jpg/220px-Debbie_Lesko_%2827816240978%29.jpg" class="thumbimage" data-file-width="5760" data-file-height="3840" width="220" height="147" /></a></font> </div><div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><div class="thumbcaption"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Debbie Lesko at a campaign event in Peoria, Arizona.</font></div></div></div>
<p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></p><ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://lesko.house.gov">Congresswoman Debbie Lesko</a> official U.S. House website</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://debbieleskoforcongress.com">Debbie Lesko for Congress</a> official campaign website</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://curlie.org/Regional/North_America/United_States/Arizona/Government/Federal/US_House_of_Representatives/Debbie_Lesko%5BR-8%5D">Debbie Lesko</a> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curlie" class="mw-redirect" title="Curlie">Curlie</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.c-span.org/person/?113756">Appearances</a> on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-SPAN" title="C-SPAN">C-SPAN</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000589">Biography</a> at the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biographical_Directory_of_the_United_States_Congress" title="Biographical Directory of the United States Congress">Biographical Directory of the United States Congress</a></i></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.votesmart.org/candidate/106483">Profile</a> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vote_Smart" title="Vote Smart">Vote Smart</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/H8AZ08158">Financial information (federal office)</a> at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Election_Commission" title="Federal Election Commission">Federal Election Commission</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/debbie-lesko/L000589">Legislation sponsored</a> at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress" title="Library of Congress">Library of Congress</a></font></li></ul><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></p><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: </font><ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:1958_births" title="Category:1958 births">1958 births</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:21st-century_American_politicians" title="Category:21st-century American politicians">21st-century American politicians</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:21st-century_American_women_politicians" title="Category:21st-century American women politicians">21st-century American women politicians</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Arizona_Republicans" title="Category:Arizona Republicans">Arizona Republicans</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Arizona_state_senators" title="Category:Arizona state senators">Arizona state senators</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Female_members_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Category:Female members of the United States House of Representatives">Female members of the United States House of Representatives</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Living_people" title="Category:Living people">Living people</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Members_of_the_Arizona_House_of_Representatives" title="Category:Members of the Arizona House of Representatives">Members of the Arizona House of Representatives</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Members_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_from_Arizona" title="Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona">Members of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:People_from_Glendale,Arizona" title="Category:People from Glendale, Arizona">People from Glendale, Arizona</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:People_from_Sheboygan,_Wisconsin" title="Category:People from Sheboygan, Wisconsin">People from Sheboygan, Wisconsin</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Right-wing_politics_in_the_United_States" title="Category:Right-wing politics in the United States">Right-wing politics in the United States</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Republican_Party_members_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives">Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wisconsin_School_of_Business_alumni" title="Category:Wisconsin School of Business alumni">Wisconsin School of Business alumni</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Women_state_legislators_in_Arizona" title="Category:Women state legislators in Arizona">Women state legislators in Arizona</a></font></li></ul></div><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/gop-lawmakers-deeply-involved-in-trump-plans-to-overturn-election-new-evidence-suggests-00027340">https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/gop-lawmakers-deeply-involved-in-trump-plans-to-overturn-election-new-evidence-suggests-00027340</a>
</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref but no mention of lesko?
</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx
insurrection fallout
<b>GOP lawmakers were deeply involved in Trump plans to overturn election, new evidence suggests</b>
Deposition excerpts filed by the Jan 6. select committee underscore the expansive cast of elected Republicans who had enlisted themselves in Trump’s effort to cling to power.
Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Matt Gaetz speak to reporters.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) speak to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in 2021. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
By Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu
04/22/2022 11:36 PM EDT
Updated:<b> 04/23/2022 </b>
Republican members of Congress were heavily involved in calls and meetings with former President Donald Trump and his top aides as they devised a strategy to overturn the election in December 2020, according to new evidence filed in federal court late Friday.
Deposition excerpts filed by the Jan 6. select committee — part of an effort to force former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to appear for an interview — suggest that some of Trump’s top allies in Congress were frequently present in meetings where a handful of strategies to prevent then-President-elect Joe Biden from taking office were discussed, including efforts to replace the leadership of the Justice Department with figures who would sow doubts about the legitimacy of the election.
<b>
Lawmakers who attended meetings, in person or by phone, included Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.</b>) and numerous members of the House Freedom Caucus, according to Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Meadows who provided key testimony about the conversations and meetings Meadows had in December 2020.
The new evidence underscores the expansive cast of elected Republicans who had ultimately enlisted themselves in Trump’s last-ditch effort to cling to power. Members traded theories about ways to push then-Vice President Mike Pence to single-handedly stop Biden’s election, they parried with the White House Counsel’s Office on the boundaries of the law regarding presidential electors and they met directly with Pence’s staff to encourage him to take direct action on Jan. 6, when Congress convened to count electoral votes.
“They felt that he had the authority to — pardon me if my phrasing isn’t correct on this, but — send votes back to the States or the electors back to the States,” Hutchinson recalled.
The disclosure came as part of a Friday evening court filing by the select panel asking a federal court to throw out Meadows’ lawsuit against the committee. In the filing, the select committee revealed that Meadows turned over 2,319 text messages during a brief period of cooperation but withheld more than 1,000, citing various privileges.
“[H]e was not acting as anything like a typical White House Chief of Staff advising the President on official matters of government policy,” House General Counsel Doug Letter wrote. “Mr. Meadows was playing a campaign role, attempting to facilitate a strategy that would have reversed the certified results of the 2020 election.”
The committee indicated that Meadows told Jordan in a text message that he supported efforts to convince Pence to send the election back to the states.
“I have pushed for this. Not sure it is going to happen,” Meadows texted Jordan early in the morning on Jan. 6.
Some of the GOP lawmakers were present in December meetings, Hutchinson recalled, when members of the White House Counsel’s Office raised significant legal doubts about a plan for pro-Trump activists to submit “alternate” electors in states won by Joe Biden.
Others attended a Dec. 21 meeting where Rudy Giuliani, then the president’s personal lawyer, and some associates advocated a plan for Pence to unilaterally refuse to count Biden’s electors and instead send the election back to various GOP-controlled state legislatures to replace Biden’s electors with Trump’s.
The panel also released text messages between Perry and Meadows about replacing Justice Department leadership before Jan. 6 with officials thought to be more sympathetic to Trump’s claims of voter fraud.
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Mark, just checking in as time continues to count down. 11 days to 1/6 and 25 days to inauguration,”<b> Perry texted the then-White House chief of staff on Dec. 26, 2020, asking him to get in touch with Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. “</b>We gotta get going!”</span>
“I got it. I think I understand. Let me work on the deputy position,” Meadows responded.
Perry rejected a request from the select panel to testify.
The panel also revealed that it interviewed Steven Engel, the former head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Engel indicated that Clark proposed on Jan. 3, 2021, having DOJ issue a legal advisory opinion regarding “the Vice President with respect to his authority when it comes to opening the votes as the President of the Senate on January 6th.”
“And I shot down that idea,” Engel recalled. “But I said — I said: ‘That’s an absurd idea. The — you know, the Vice President is acting as the President of the Senate. It is not the role of the Department of Justice to provide legislative officials with legal advice on the scope of their duties.” And — you know, and — not to mention it was 3 days from the date. OLC doesn’t tend to provide the legal opinions, you know, in those cases, you know, in that short timeframe.”
</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p dir="ltr"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[MOST READ
Kate Bedingfield is leaving the White House
Liz Cheney Wins the GOP’s Manhood Contest
The Southwest is bone dry. Now, a key water source is at risk.
Judge holds Cushman & Wakefield in contempt, orders fines in Trump probe
Shadow 2024 race: Newsom vs. DeSantis]
The committee also homed in on Meadows’ role as an unofficial campaign adviser, noting that he routinely straddled the line between his official White House work and his effort to keep Trump in office. Hundreds of documents Meadows claimed were privileged included contacts he had with Trump campaign lawyers, the committee said, citing a privilege log from Meadows himself.
<b>The committee chronicled Meadows’ frenetic activity in the final weeks before Jan. 6, with his actions including:</b>
— Helping the campaign craft and distribute talking points about election fraud, in concert with allies like attorney <b>Cleta Mitchell and campaign adviser Jason Miller.</b> “This is what I prepared and sent to Sen Braun last night to help prepare him for ABC appearance this am,” Mitchell wrote on Jan. 6 to Meadows, who forwarded the email to Miller. “Can the WH press office get and start using??”
— Communicating with Raffensperger and his deputy Jason Fuchs around efforts to get Georgia officials to overturn the results in the state.
— Texting often with Perry about plans to install Clark at the Justice Department in order to use DOJ’s power to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election. In one exchange,<b> Perry indicated he had sent separate messages to Meadows via Signal, </b>and the two discussed a potential deputy for Clark.
— Meeting in his office with retired Army Col. Phil Waldron, who was pushing for Trump to invoke national security procedures as part of a plan to seize control of voting machines. Waldron referenced the meeting in an email sent to Meadows’ Gmail account.
— Conducting an array of calls on Jan. 6 from a secure “control car” that was part of Trump’s motorcade.
“I know that he was on several calls during the rally. And I went over to meet with him at one point, and he had just waved me away, which is out of the ordinary,” Hutchinson testified.
The committee also indicated it has come to believe Trump did not attempt to contact any federal law enforcement agency amid the riot, pointing to testimony from former Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, former Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue, who indicated he never connected with Trump that day.
“I never spoke to the President that day,” Donoghue told the panel. “He was not on any calls that I was on.”
The panel concluded: “It is also now clear that Mr. Trump never telephoned his Secretary of Defense that day to order deployment of National Guard, and never contacted any federal law enforcement agency to order security assistance to the Capitol Police.”
Filed under: Joe Biden, Joe Biden 2020, Mike Pence, Donald Trump,
POLITICO
</font></p></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/debbie-lesko/summary?cid=N00042056">https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/debbie-lesko/summary?cid=N00042056</a></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2022</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="contributors" class="table-title u-mt4">
<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/debbie-lesko/contributors?cid=N00042056&cycle=2022">Top Contributors, 2021 - 2022</a></font></h2>
</div>
<div class="table-wrap u-mt2" tabindex="0">
<table class="js-scrollable"><thead><tr><th><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contributor</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Total</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Individuals</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PACs</font></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">House Freedom Fund</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$28,200</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$23,200</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$5,000</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bill Luke Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$20,800</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$20,800</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$0</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">21st Century Healthcare</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$16,600</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$16,600</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$0</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pinnacle West Capital</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$16,510</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$1,510</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$15,000</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Majority Cmte PAC</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$15,000</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$0</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$15,000</font></td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<div id="industries" class="table-title u-mt4">
<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/debbie-lesko/industries?cid=N00042056&cycle=2022">Top Industries, 2021 - 2022</a></font></h2>
</div>
<table class="js-scrollable"><thead><tr><th><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Industry</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Total</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Individuals</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PACs</font></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Retired</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$199,268</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$199,268</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$0</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republican/Conservative</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$47,556</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$42,306</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$5,250</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leadership PACs</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$43,000</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$0</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$43,000</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Real Estate</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$32,477</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$28,477</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$4,000</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Electric Utilities</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$25,036</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$1,536</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$23,500</font></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2020</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
<div id="industries" class="table-title u-mt4">
<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/debbie-lesko/industries?cid=N00042056&cycle=2020">Top Industries, 2019 - 2020</a></font></h2>
</div>
<table class="js-scrollable"><thead><tr><th><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Industry</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Total</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Individuals</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PACs</font></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Retired</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$177,645</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$177,645</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$0</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republican/Conservative</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$122,778</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$109,528</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$13,250</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Real Estate</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$105,650</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$93,650</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$12,000</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leadership PACs</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$87,500</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$0</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$87,500</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil & Gas</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$47,631</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$19,131</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$28,500</font></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table class="js-scrollable"><thead><tr><th><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contributor</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Total</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Individuals</font></th><th class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PACs</font></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bill Luke Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$31,200</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$31,200</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$0</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">House Freedom Fund</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$26,650</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$16,650</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$10,000</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Arizona Diamondbacks</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$21,131</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$21,131</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$0</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pinnacle West Capital</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$20,550</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$3,050</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$17,500</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Koch Industries</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$20,000</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$0</font></td><td class="number"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$20,000</font></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===<br /></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">arizona Republican Congresswoman Debbie Lesko, who represents the state's 8th Congressional District, was heckled and exited the stage
during a commencement speech at a high school graduation ceremony on
Friday.</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Arizona Virtual Academy’s ceremony was held in Glendale, close to Lesko’s district.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Graduate Juliana Butler was upset at Lesko’s speech.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I
thought it was very inappropriate, and I was honestly really shocked
that that was even allowed. I don’t know who OK'd that,” said
Juliana Butler.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>She says Lesko failed to mention the graduates and
their accomplishments, and polled the audience on school choice and
federal student loan forgiveness.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I have heard other commencement
speakers make speeches, and they were just very motivating. Nothing to
do with politics, or religion or anything. It was just about the
graduates. And she seemed to not grasp that and not put that like in her
speech at all,” said Juliana Butler.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She says Lesko encouraged
attendees to sign up for her personal newsletter and that Lesko brought
voter registration forms to the event.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Charlie Butler, Juliana’s
father, attended the ceremony and spoke out during Lesko’s speech. He
says he and others were frustrated that the speech appeared to be about
politics, rather than the graduates.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“This should have been all
about the kids and their accomplishments. And, and it wasn't, and that's
why parents got frustrated. And that's why she was only there for 10
minutes. And that's why she walked out as soon as she was done,” said
Charlie Butler.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Juliana’s mother, Sophia, says they were unaware Lesko would be speaking at the ceremony until they arrived.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We
did not know until we grabbed the program, I'd say half an hour before
the ceremony. We looked through all the speakers, and I noticed that she
was on there,” said Sophia Butler.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Attendee Michelle Ameigh says Lesko still thanked the crowd before exiting the stage.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“She
did end with saying, you know, ‘God bless the students’, basically,
‘God bless every one of you,’ or something like that. At that point, I
was just sitting there in total amazement,” said Ameigh.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ameigh
says after Lesko left, the ceremony continued without interruption.
Ethan Parr, another attendee, says an academy administrator also
apologized after Lesko exited.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The students were visibly angry,
and he was like, ‘Well, you know, your voice is being heard today,’ and,
‘We got your back,’ was basically the message that they gave to the
students,” said Parr.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko told KJZZ News on Sunday the speech
was meant to be interactive and to encourage graduates to register to
vote. She says she chose to leave the ceremony after the school’s
director told her to change her speech.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I can deal with hecklers.
But, I believe that the executive director of the school made a big
mistake. Because I believe that he now taught all of those graduates
that if you heckle somebody, you win,” said Lesko.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko says that
while no one edited her speech before the day of the ceremony, she
delivered the same speech without interruption for a different ceremony
earlier that day, with the same director present.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As of Sunday evening, Stride, the company that runs Arizona Virtual Academy, has not provided comment on the events.</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">stivers, scalise
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/house-metal-detector">https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/house-metal-detector</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx twt</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>Republican lawmakers throw a fit over new metal detectors at the House chamber</div><div>
</div><div>Cody Fenwick January 13, 2021</div><div> </div><div>Following the brutal assault on the U.S. Capitol last week by supporters of the president hoping to overturn the election, Congress is stepping up its security. And on Tuesday night, multiple Republican lawmakers expressed their outrage at new metal detectors placed at the entrance of the House chamber.</div><div>
</div><div>Officials seem to believe these measures are necessary following the attempted insurrection, especially in light of the fears that Republican members, some of whom have bragged about wanting to bring guns onto the House floor, may have been supportive of the mob.</div><div>
</div><div>"There are concerns about the gun-toting members, but also we don't know who they're going to bring to the inauguration who can bypass the metal detectors," on Democratic representative told CNN. "Until there's an investigation and until we understand our colleagues' level of complicity in the attack we don't know how involved they really were. Until we have answers I don't think we should trust them – not all of them of course, but some of them."</div><div>
</div><div>Perhaps further raising suspicions, Republicans were furious when they had to enter the chamber on Tuesday.</div><div>
</div><div>"Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who has bragged about her desire to carry a weapon on Capital Hill is currently in a standoff with Capitol Police at the newly installed Metal Detectors outside the chamber doors," CNN's Ryan Nobles reported on Tuesday evening. "Boebert walked through with her bag which set off the mags. She refused to offer the bag over to be searched and is now in a standoff with Cap Police."</div><div>
</div><div>He added: "Capitol Police won't let her in until Boebert shows them what is in her bag, she won't and is now standing by the entrance of the chamber. She is respectful but defiant."</div><div>
</div><div>On Twitter, she objected to the new policy:</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Boebert has been of particular concern because she tweeted out that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had left the chamber in the middle of the Jan.6 invasion by the pro-Trump mob, even though members were told not to share this kind of information for security reasons. Some believe she may have been intentionally trying to give the mob information about one of its targets. Boebert has previously expressed her support for the conspiracy fiction QAnon, though she subsequently said she was not a "follower." She has reportedly been tied to other extremist groups.</div><div>
</div><div>She wasn't the only one objecting to the new security measures on Tuesday, other reporters revealed.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko of Arizona also complained about the change on Twitter, provoking many critics to point out that metal detectors are accepted at many other parts of life, such as in airports and some schools.</span></div><div>For members of Congress to enter the floor of the U.S. House, we now have to go through intense security measures, on top of the security we already go through. These new provisions include searches and being wanded like criminals. We now live in Pelosi’s communist America!</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>'An act of mass surveillance': India's use of facial recognition tech ... ›</div><div>Separate from Those Scanners, Intrusive Airport Pat-Downs Are Par ... ›</div><div>'Absolutely chilling': House Democrats briefed on disturbing ... ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>House installs metal detectors to check lawmakers after Capitol riots ›</div><div>Metal detectors installed outside House floor as Democrats express ... ›</div><div>Metal detector installed for U.S. House chamber | PBS NewsHour ›</div><div>
</div><div>=</div></div></div></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">pizzagaetz:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/meet-the-far-right-house-members-who-stormed-secure-hearing-room/">https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/meet-the-far-right-house-members-who-stormed-secure-hearing-room/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">more <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">than<b> two dozen Republican House members stormed a closed-door</b> hearing with a top Pentagon official on Wednesday morning in protest of the impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump.</span></font></div><section style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear;"><div class="mce-content-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear;"><div class="layout-constrain--narrow" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 47.2222em; padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em; line-height: 1.5;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The storming stunt was staged a day after Trump had a White House meeting with members of the Freedom Caucus–who were among the Republicans storming the hearing–and has complained in recent days that Republicans have not been strong or vocal enough in their defense of him.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The House Republicans caused a five-hour delay, broke House rules, and compromised security by bringing cellphones and other electronic devices into the secure facility, where they are not allowed to protect sensitive information. One member, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, even tweeted from the secure hearing room, called the<b> Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF (pronounced “skiff”).</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So who are these security-flouting congressmen and congresswomen? We rounded up a few that have graced our pages here at Right Wing Watch.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; font-weight: 700;">Matt Gaetz</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I led over 30 of my colleagues into the SCIF where Adam Schiff is holding secret impeachment depositions,” Gaetz <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1187028992295161858" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">said on Twitter</a> Wednesday morning. On Thursday, he <a href="https://www.towleroad.com/2019/10/matt-gaetz-300/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">compared himself to Spartans</a> in the Movie “300,” <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2019/10/23/congressman-matt-gaetz-storming-impeachment-hearings-300-trump-democracy/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">telling TMZ</a>, “We were like the 300s, standing in the breach to try to stop the radical left from storming over our democracy.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gaetz may now be best known for leading the stunt, but there’s plenty more to know about him. In 2018, he tried to <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/rep-matt-gaetz-urges-gop-to-fight-vote-counting-in-the-era-of-donald-trump-we-can-go-farther/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">impede efforts to count all the ballots</a> in the tight Florida Senate race between Rick Scott and Bill Nelson. As Right Wing Watch’s Jared Holt reported at the time:</font></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(239, 243, 243); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; hyphens: none; padding: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0.75em 2em;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Gaetz told listeners of “Breitbart News Daily</b>” on SirusXM that Republicans should push back on the vote-counting efforts without fear of outraging voters.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“If the Democrats were in charge and this was happening in a Republican county, do you think that those supervisors of elections would still have jobs? I mean, they’d be gone. They’d be out on their rear ends,” Gaetz said.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">…</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gaetz said that Democrats will never “get better” and “treat us better,” so it’s important that Republicans “take the gloves off and fight like they do.”</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Gaetz also pushed a conspiracy theory that the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee authored a secret memo that “proves that the Obama administration improperly sought to spy on Donald Trump and his presidential campaign,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">” Holt </span><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/rep-matt-gaetz-goes-on-infowars-to-complain-about-being-called-a-conspiracy-theorist/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">wrote in 2018</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Gaetz appeared on the conspiracy-theory outlet Infowars to complain about being labeled a conspiracy theorist. Gaetz also </span><a href="https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1052629557826736129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1052629557826736129&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.snopes.com%2Ffact-check%2Fsoros-caravan-refugees%2F" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">pushed a conspiracy theory</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> that progressive billionaire donor George Soros organized and funded a ”caravan” of migrants.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>And in 2018, Gaetz <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/31/gaetz-florida-right-wing-troll-380577" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">brought</a> Chuck Johnson</b>, a right-wing political operative who has posted Holocaust-denying statements online, to Trump’s State of the Union address.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; font-weight: 700;">Louie Gohmert</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After storming the secure room, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/10/23/circus-texas-republicans-help-disrupt-closed-door-capitol-meeting-to-protest-impeachment-probe/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">reportedly started</a> a shouting match with Democratic lawmakers.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Recently, Gohmert has claimed he knows the identity of the whistleblower who raised the red flag on Trump’s call to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which the U.S. president asked Zelensky to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Biden’s son, Hunter. Gohmert’s assertion is based on <a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/huh-gop-rep-gohmert-introduces-new-conspiracy-into-congressional-record" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">a conspiracy theory</a> involving the cybersecurity firm <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/09/26/how-far-right-conspiracy-theories-informed-trumps-ukraine-call/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">CrowdStrike</a>. But Gohmert is best known on our pages for homophobic remarks. In 2016, he said <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/gohmert-homosexuality-flood/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">homosexuality was to blame for the flood described in the biblical story of Noah</a>. Right Wing Watch’s Brian Tashman reported on a <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/louie-gohmert-no-gay-space-colonies/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">speech Gohmert gave</a> on the House floor in 2016:</font></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(239, 243, 243); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; hyphens: none; padding: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0.75em 2em;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But due to the attacks on “natural order” and religious freedom, Gohmert said, “we don’t have much longer to go.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gohmert also cited the work of Jonathan Cahn, <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/jonathan-cahn-blows-september-13-doomsday-prophecy-finds-convenient-explanation" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">a far-right End Times preacher </a>who <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/end-times-preachers-chanukah-message-gay-rights-harry-potter-lead-fascism" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">believes</a> <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/cahn-gay-marriage-and-obama-s-re-election-are-signs-end-america" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">God </a><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/jonathan-cahn-god-will-judge-america-rainbow-lights-white-house-world-trade-center" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">is</a> <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/capitol-prayer-service-god-will-punish-america-legalizing-gay-marriage" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">punishing</a> <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/end-times-preacher-gay-marriage-victory-will-lead-gods-wrath" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">America</a> (<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/jonathan-cahn-links-gay-marriage-paris-terrorist-attacks" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">and France</a>) <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/cahn-america-should-prepare-gods-judgment-gay-marriage-september" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">due</a> <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fitting-end-values-voter-summit-gods-judgment-coming-and-there-no-way-out" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">to</a> <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/jonathan-cahn-kim-davis-gay-rights-and-two-cows-prove-gods-wrath-imminent" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">gay</a> <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/jonathan-cahn-hurricane-joaquin-may-hit-dc-punishment-gay-marriage" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">marriage</a> with events such as the <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/real-lesson-911-ban-same-sex-marriage" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">9/11 attacks</a>, to assert that the end is near.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He also claimed that transgender people are disordered and “perverse” individuals who need help.</font></p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gohmert also <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/louie-gohmert-child-abuse-universally-turns-boys-gay/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">claimed</a> that sexual abuse turned boys gay, stating in 2016, “the boys just seemed like, universally, they ended up feeling that they were gay.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; font-weight: 700;">Debbie Lesko</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A fervent supporter of Trump, Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko stormed the secure Capitol room and expressed <a href="https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/10/23/arizonans-among-house-republicans-who-stormed-impeachment-hearing/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">her outrage</a> about how the impeachment inquiry process was being handled.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko has boosted the <a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/are-house-gopers-going-all-in-on-crowdstrike-conspiracy-nonsense" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">CrowdStrike conspiracy theory</a> and supported anti-vaccination conspiracy theories. In June, Lesko attacked social media companies that had made it harder for users to find anti-vaccination conspiracy theories. As the Daily Beast <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/rep-debbie-lesko-compares-facebook-and-google-downplaying-anti-vax-content-to-1984" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">reported </a>then:</font></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(239, 243, 243); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; hyphens: none; padding: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0.75em 2em;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A Republican lawmaker slammed Facebook and Google on Wednesday for making it harder to find anti-vaccine content on their platforms, calling the companies’ efforts to stop the spread of the conspiracy theories “really scary stuff.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) attacked the platforms’ efforts at a House Homeland Security committee hearing on online terrorism and disinformation, where representatives from Google, Facebook, and Twitter faced their latest round of grilling from lawmakers.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">…</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Medical professionals and public officials have all warned that disinformation about vaccines (including a persistent and pernicious conspiracy that they can lead to autism) has fed public health epidemics. But Lesko suggested that anti-vaccine theories are just a difference of opinion.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“What you deem as inaccurate, I do not deem as inaccurate, or other people may not deem,” she said.</font></p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lesko is also an anti-abortion activist and believes “God has put me on a mission,” to be anti-choice, Lesko <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/rep-debbie-lesko-says-god-has-put-her-on-anti-choice-mission/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">said </a>at Family Research Council’s “Pro-Life Con” earlier this year.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; font-weight: 700;">Andy Biggs</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Andy Biggs, the former president of the Arizona Senate, was among those leading the charge to disrupt the hearing and <a href="https://twitter.com/RepAndyBiggsAZ/status/1187080810479923200" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">called the hearings</a> “secret, Soviet-style, Stalinist” on Wednesday. On Monday, Biggs<a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2019/10/21/impeachment-update-andy-biggs-proposal-censure-adam-schiff-fails/4058417002/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;"> forced a vote</a> in the House to censure Rep. Adam Schiff, which failed.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2015, Biggs sat silent when the founder of the Oath Keepers, an anti-government militia group, called for the hanging of Sen. John McCain of Arizona. As Right Wing Watch <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/stewart-rhodes-defends-hang-mccain-comment-says-senator-is-like-adolf-hitler/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">reported at the time</a>:</font></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(239, 243, 243); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; hyphens: none; padding: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0.75em 2em;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes <a href="http://www.12news.com/story/news/politics/2015/05/12/arizona-lawmaker-doesnt-object-to-hang-mccain/27211307/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">told a Phoenix television station</a> yesterday that he<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/oath-keepers-founder-john-mccain-should-be-hung-neck-until-dead" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;"> called for the hanging of Arizona Sen. John McCain</a> last week because McCain “is every bit as nuts as Adolf Hitler was.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rhodes made the comment while sitting next to Andy Biggs, the president of the Arizona Senate, who has <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/arizona-senate-president-says-first-amendment-stopped-him-rebuking-call-mccains-hanging" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">said that he didn’t speak up</a> because criticizing Rhodes would have violated his “free-speech rights.”</font></p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; font-weight: 700;">Steve King</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">White supremacist Rep. Steve King of Iowa was also among the lawmakers who stormed the SCIF. King may be best known for comments he made to the New York Times earlier this year in which he defended white nationalism.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” he said in an interview with<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/us/politics/steve-king-trump-immigration-wall.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;"> the New York Times</a>. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The New York Times reported:</font></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(239, 243, 243); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; hyphens: none; padding: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0.75em 2em;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the same time, he said, he supports immigrants who enter the country legally and fully assimilate because what matters more than race is “the culture of America” based on values brought to the United States by whites from Europe.</font></p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But before his comments to the Times, King promoted white supremacists on his Twitter and has made other racist comments. In 2018, King quote-tweeted Lana Lokteff, who <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/report/white-supremacy-figured-out-how-to-become-youtube-famous/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">spread white supremacist hate on YouTube</a> via the hate channel, Red Ice. Holt reported at the time:</font></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(239, 243, 243); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; hyphens: none; padding: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0.75em 2em;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In June, King <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-king-white-nationalist-neo-nazi-retweet_us_5b200eaee4b0adfb826e8e40" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">promoted</a> Mark Collett, a well-established British neo-Nazi. Additionally, King has a <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanUhl/status/840997151740174338" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">reputation</a> for professing white-nationalist rhetoric about undocumented immigrants, once comparing them to livestock, and racial demographics in America, claiming “we can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.”</font></p></blockquote><div class="at-below-post addthis_tool" data-url="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/meet-the-far-right-house-members-who-stormed-secure-hearing-room/" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; line-height: 1.5;"><div class="layout-constrain--narrow" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 47.2222em; padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;"><div class="tags" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; border-top: 5px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); margin-bottom: 2em; padding-top: 1em;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; font-weight: 700;">Tags:</span> <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/andy-biggs/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">Andy Biggs</a><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/debbie-lesko/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">Debbie Lesko</a><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/louie-gohmert/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">Louie Gohmert</a><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/rep-louie-gohmert/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">Rep. Louie Gohmert</a><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/rep-matt-gaetz/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">Rep. Matt Gaetz</a><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/rep-steve-king/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">Rep. Steve King</a><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/steve-king/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">Steve King</a><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/topics/impeachment/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">Impeachment</a><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/organizations/republican-party/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">Republican Party</a></font></p></div></div></div></div></div></section></div><h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></font></h2><h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Rep. Lesko Records Show Almost $100K for ALEC AZ "Scholarship" Fund</span></font></h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The GOP-dominated <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC_Politicians" title="reference on Arizona Legislature" target="blank">Arizona Legislature</a> is something of a testing ground for ALEC model legislation -- Arizona is, as Farley puts it, "model state." (See "<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/12517/alecs_arizona_escort_service/" title="reference on ALEC's Arizona Escort Service" target="blank">ALEC's Arizona Escort Service</a>.") House Speaker Andy Tobin is a longstanding ALEC member, as is House Majority Leader Steve Court. ALEC's Arizona public-sector chair is House Majority Whip Debbie Lesko.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC holds three major conferences each year for member lawmakers, lobbyists and member “think tanks.” At the end of such conferences, member lawmakers carry pieces of ALEC “model legislation” to their home assemblies for introduction.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For ALEC’s 2011 SNPS winter meeting in sunny Arizona, corporate sponsors included dozens of corporations and trade associations, such as AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Freport-McMoran Copper and Gold, Time Warner Cable, State Farm Insurance, Johnson & Johnson, the American Bail Coalition, Diageo, UPS, Exxon Mobil, American Petroleum Institute, Wal-Mart and AstraZeneca—not to mention a slew of contributing think tanks with ties to far-right billionaires Charles and David Koch. But that isn’t their only connection. The brothers company Koch Industries is on ALEC private sector board of directors. And their Madison, Wisc.-based company, Koch Companies Public Sector [SIC], is an ALEC member.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Due to this reality and reports detailing how ALEC has disseminated some of the most controversial pieces of legislation in recent years–model legislation to capture undocumented workers; to eliminate minimum-wage requirements; to decimate unions; to privatize public services, from schools to prisons–ALEC has come under increased scrutiny. And lawmakers who attend ALEC events have been met frequently by members of the public voicing their displeasure.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC’s 2011 Scottsdale summit was no exception.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On November 30, the first full-fledged day of the conference, helicopters swarmed above and rows of police in riot gear stood along Kierland’s eastern gate, a living buffer between the street and middle-aged men in funny pants playing rounds on the Kierland course.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The resort’s southern gate was much the same as the eastern: metal barricades, clusters of police officers and hotel security screening each visitor with the help of a phonebook-thick stack containing the names of legitimate resort guests and registered conference attendees–nearly 1,000 state lawmakers, the corporate lobby’s upper crust and “think tank” luminaries.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Flanking both entrances, protesters, under the banner of “Occupy ALEC,” had turned out to decry undue corporate influence.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At 11 a.m., inside the resort, SNPS attendees gathered in one of the resort’s dining halls to hear former ALEC member and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer deliver her keynote address.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Acting as emcee, recently-retired Louisiana State Representative and outgoing ALEC National Chairman Noble Ellington addressed the assembled lawmakers and lobbyists.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font>