RUTHFULLY YOURS

Rep. Ted Lieu contends that the recent “whistleblower” allegations against Donald Trump give evidence of impeachable “misconduct” by the President in his now-famous July 25th telephone conversation with the President of Ukraine: “Soliciting Ukraine to get dirt on Trump’s political opponent [Joe Biden]: HIGH CRIME,” Lieu tweeted in promoting an allegation which has been utterly discredited by the now-public transcript of the phone conversation in question.

It is no secret that Lieu has detested Trump from the moment the latter was elected in 2016, and that he has never viewed Trump as a legitimate president – not even for even the briefest moment. The congressman first registered his contempt for Trump by joining dozens of fellow Democrats in boycotting the Inauguration in January 2017. A few days later, Lieu asserted that “our leader is potentially unhinged … and that is highly disturbing.” Wherever Trump’s name appeared in Lieu’s press releases, the congressman placed asterisks linking to a footnote that said:

“In addition to losing the popular vote, Trump … is in violation of the Emoluments Clause … of the U.S. Constitution due to massive conflicts of interests and his refusal to put his global business holdings in blind trusts. Trump also benefited from Vladimir Putin ordering a multifaceted and brazen Russian influence and cyber hacking campaign with the goals of undermining faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrating Secretary Clinton’s electability, and helping Trump’s election chances. Trump and his press secretary also routinely make stuff up.”

Moreover, Lieu’s website featured a “Cloud of Illegitimacy Clock,” which measured the length of Trump’s “illegitimate” term in the White House.

This past July, Lieu reacted angrily when Trump suggested that four hard-left congresswomen – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley – should – instead of “loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States … how our government is to be run,” “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” “What makes America exceptional is we are a nation of immigrants,” Lieu tweeted in response to the President. “As an immigrant who served on active duty, I am appalled you are telling us to ‘go back.’ I’m not going back. America is our home. And I will still be in Congress after your racist ass leaves.” Lieu later doubled down on his vulgar remarks: “I never thought I’d see the day when a president was telling immigrants to go back to where we came from. Donald Trump is demonstrating he’s a racist ass. He’s not uniting us. I can’t wait until he leaves the office of the presidency.”

Two months ago – on August 14 – Lieu was angered when the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David M. Friedman, an Orthodox Jew, voiced support for the Israeli government’s decision to bar Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from visiting Israel as part of a junket sponsored by the notoriously anti-Semitic nongovernmental organization MIFTAH. Lieu, in response, appeared on CNN to accuse Friedman of having dual loyalties to the U.S. and Israel. “His allegiance, again, is [should be] to America, not to a foreign power,” said Lieu, adding: “It is outrageous that the U.S. government is working against having an American go visit a relative in Israel. I think he [Friedman] should resign.”

Another conservative whom Lieu recently smeared was Candace Owens, a conservative black activist who has worked diligently to persuade African Americans to walk away from the Democratic Party. At an April 2019 House Judiciary Committee hearing on hate crimes and white nationalism, Lieu played a 30-second audio clip of comments that Owens had made about Adolf Hitler and nationalism four months earlier. In a truly obscene and deliberate misrepresentation of Owens’s words, Lieu falsely characterized her remarks as an attempt “to legitimize Adolf Hitler” and then gave Owens no opportunity to respond to his charges. When a Republican congressman subsequently offered Owens a chance to reply to Lieu, she delivered one of the most devastating public humiliations ever inflicted on an American politician. To view the full exchange between Lieu and Owens, click here.

Ted Lieu’s current allegations regarding the “whistleblower” claims against Donald Trump are no more legitimate – and no more honest – than was his pathetic attempt to portray Candace Owens as a Nazi sympathizer. Lieu is an embarrassment to the United States Congress.