With national headlines warning of a potentially difficult midterm election coming for Republicans in Congress, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar [R-District 4] had a clear message for the Mingus Mountain Republicans assembled at the Cottonwood Veterans of Foreign Wars hall on Sept. 11:
“Everything is on the line in this election,” Gosar said before pointing to how national polling on congressional races has favored Democrats. “We’re under assault. This is battleground zero.”
Throughout his speech and Q&A session in Cottonwood, Gosar reiterated the need to rally the troops, and warned that the Republican Party could lose control of the House of Representatives. He spoke to a room of longtime supporters, highlighting Republican base issues like immigration enforcement and his opposition to the Affordable Care Act.
Gosar spent much of his speech discussing his views on the conduct of the Department of Justice regarding President Donald Trump, Russian involvement in the 2016 election and the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He referred to his attempt, along with 10 other right-wing Republicans in the House, to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Justice Department official who oversees the Mueller investigation, or have him removed from office.
“I’m not his favorite person,” Gosar said of Rosenstein.
Gosar made the case that the ongoing battle over the DOJ is relevant directly in the lives of people across the country from Washington, D.C.
“If you don’t have the solidity of an equal application of justice, you don’t have have any of the above,” Gosar said. “You become a victim of the overreach of government, not a partner. Every issue starts with implementation of fairness from DOJ. If you have an unfair DOJ, picking winners and losers, the good ideas fall by the wayside.”
Gosar brought up the controversy early in the Trump administration related to unmasking — the process by which U.S. citizens caught up in surveillance of suspected foreign spies by intelligence agencies have their identities disclosed to security officials. In Gosar’s view, this kind of intelligence dragnet related to foreigners under surveillance can happen to anyone.
“When you start to see this unmasking, it is going to spook you,” Gosar said. “If they can do it to a president, they can do it to any one of you.”
For all his focus on rallying Republicans, Gosar was not shy in his criticisms of members of the Republican establishment, who he said he feels have been too weak in their commitment to conservative values, too opaque in their workings, and too timid in their support of Trump.
He took aim at recently deceased Arizona Sen. John McCain, complaining about the campaign finance legislation he passed in the early 2000s, and alleging that he was involved in the IRS scandals during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
Gosar expressed support for Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio congressman who is launching an outsider bid for Speaker of the House of Majority Leader in the wake of the retirement of Speaker Paul Ryan [R-Wis.], against establishment pick Rep. Kevin McCarthy [R-Calif.]. In Gosar’s view, the current leadership team has been “too closed door.”
Gosar defended Jordan against allegations made by several former Ohio State University wrestlers who claim that as an Ohio State assistant wrestling coach, Jordan had ignored complaints of abuse by the team physician from wrestlers on the team. Gosar pointed to Perkins Coie — the same law firm the Democratic Party hired during the 2016 election, leading to the production of the Steele dossier alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia — representing the wrestlers as proof of a plot by the “deep state.” When asked, Gosar said he believes the accusing wrestlers lied.
Gosar ’s attitude toward the Jordan allegations extended to the view of politics he espoused throughout his presentation: Fight hard and refuse to give an inch.
“Vote Republican,” Gosar said. “You’ve got to vote Republican.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
