A House Oversight Committee hearing briefly devolved into chaos Thursday when Rep. Rashida Tlaib accused the federal crime-fighting surge in the District as a “fascist takeover.”
The Michigan Democrat, while speaking during a hearing about public safety issues in the District, said calling the sweeping law enforcement operation “authoritarian” was “not a bad word — it’s a fact.”
The comment prompted Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Republican, to interrupt Ms. Tlaib and begin jousting verbally with her.
“She’s going to refer to me and my colleague like we were from the Third Reich,” Mr. Donalds said. “It’s insane. Do I look like a member of the Third Reich to you, Ms. Tlaib, is that what I look like to you?”
Mr. Donalds is Black.
The two shouted over each other for a solid minute before Rep. James Comer, Kentucky Republican and committee chairman, was able to restore order.
It was one of many detours in the hearing intended to talk about crime in the nation’s capital, mostly from Democratic members mentioning President Trump’s felony convictions in New York last year and his ties to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
