This Week with Gosar

January 14, 2024

House to Vote to Hold Hunter Biden in Contempt of Congress

This week, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on which I serve held what is called a “markup” to determine whether to proceed with a resolution to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with subpoenas to appear before a congressional deposition last month.   In the latest stunt, Hunter Biden showed up with his cadre of expensive lawyers only to abruptly storm out of the hearing room once members of the Committee began questioning him.  As I noted here, I voted to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for snubbing the subpoena.  The rule of law applies to everyone, including Joe Biden or his son.  Hunter Biden intentionally ignoring lawful subpoenas related to his role in his father’s abuse of power and corrupt business practices is nothing short of obstruction of justice.  The full House of Representatives will take up the contempt vote next week.

Gosar Participates in Hearing on Risks of Woke Military

This week, I participated in Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and the Foreign Affairs hearing on the risks of marxist ideologies in the United States Military.  Under the Biden administration, the Department of Defense’s curriculum and training has been infiltrated causing failing recruitment and retention rates, low morale, and quite frankly, pose a national security threat. Our service members are heroes and must endure considerable challenges in their sacrifice to our nation. Their focus should not be compromised by politically motivated Critical Race Theory, LGBTQ training, and DEI and pro-abortion policies.  Our service men and women deserve more from their leaders.

What’s Going on With Israel and Yemen?

As all of you know by now, the terrorist group Hamas, which politically and militarily controls Gaza, viciously attacked Israel on October 7^th and massacred 1,400 civilians.  In response, Israel declared war on Hamas and has stated that it intends to eliminate Hamas militarily and prevent it from governing Gaza.  Like all war, it is brutal, and now three months later, large sections of Gaza have been leveled and thousands of people have been killed by the Israeli military.

I do not second guess the Israeli military strategy.  Its job, like our military, is to protect the nation and eliminate existential threats.  Hamas is such a threat.  The fact remains that if Hamas had not invaded Israel and massacred civilians, Gaza would not be in ruins today and every person killed in the war would be alive.  The death and destruction is 100% the fault of Hamas.

The leftist democrats are very agitated and publicly support the terrorists instead of Israel.  That’s their choice, but as part of their terrorist supporting activities, they lie about the history of that area.  Rick Berman wrote a great piece about this, I want to highlight sections here.  He writes, “the protesters who want to free “Palestine” are apparently unaware there are no “Palestinian” people.  There has never been a country called Palestine.  No government with elected officials.  No country borders.  No official currency, etc.  The borderless area referred to was known by many other names throughout history, including Judea and Samaria, Canaan, and Israel. When the Romans took their turn invading the area, they renamed it Syria Palaestina.  The indigenous Jews fought against Roman control in three separate wars over 66 years while continuing to call their home Israel.  The Arabs created the term “Palestinians” for themselves in 1964 when Yasser Arafat established the Palestine Liberation Organization.”

Do not be misled that there is a country called Gaza or a nation called Palestine.   These lands are historically Jewish, though they have been invaded frequently, as any student of the Bible will tell you.

Mr. Berman continues: “Conversely, there is no denying some Arabs had homes in that area. But they rejected the 1948 international settlement of their claim and subsequent peace offerings. After those rejections and the lost spoils of several failed Arab-initiated wars, any entitlement of the land from the “river to the sea” is a nonstarter.  Reports often refer to “Palestinian refugees.” The children and grandchildren of those who lost or left their homes in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War are not refugees.  There are no current or historic examples where refugee status becomes an inherited birthright. Children and grandchildren of Jews who lost their homes to the Nazis or descendants of American Indians forced off their land are not legally entitled refugees.  The children of the Japanese who trace their roots back to Tokyo are not afforded refugee status despite the 1945 bombing that left 1 million people homeless.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA was established in 1948 and, without unique justification, continues today.  Last year, the U.S. gave $153 million to UNRWA for these “Palestinian refugees.”  There is no such special U.N. agency for families who have lost homes in Ukraine, Somalia, Sudan, Niger, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya or other war-torn countries.”  As it stands, our tax money is supporting both Hamas through UNRWA and Israel through our foreign aid program.  The idiocy of supporting both sides in a war seems lost in Washington, D.C.

What about Yemen?

Yemen is a Middle Eastern country with key ports and coastal areas off the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.  It borders Saudi Arabia and Oman, and is separated from Africa by the Gulf of Aden, approximately 400 miles apart.  There is civil war and conflict in Yemen.

Since 2015, the people called the Houthis are engaged in war with the Islamic State (the same group the U.S., Syria and Turkey fought for several years) as well as Al Qaeda and Saudi Arabia.  Yes, that Al Qaeda, the one we spent 20 years in Iraq fighting.  Oddly, the Biden regime is backing the Saudis, and by definition we are supporting the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.   No one in Congress has authorized the U.S. to get involved in this civil war, and certainly no one in Congress voted to support Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.  Yet here we are.

This week, the Biden regime carelessly sent our naval ships positioned in the Red Sea into an active war zone.  This is a clear provocation to the Houthis, who have then lobbed missiles at commercial ships and our navy.  Our troops have not been authorized by Congress to be there and putting them there is simply bait.  As predicted, this week Biden took the bait and ordered over 100 missiles to strike 60 targets in Yemen.  This is an obvious act of war, and only Congress can authorize this action. Surprise: Congress has NOT authorized war against Yemen.  Congress hasn’t even debated authorizing war against Yemen.

This is now the fifth war Biden has carelessly and recklessly gotten the U.S. involved with, all without any vote of Congress to declare war.  These actions are unconstitutional.  President Trump did not get us involved in any new wars. 

American Journalist Left to Die in Ukrainian Prison

This week we learned that American novelist, filmmaker and independent journalist Gonzalo Lira was left to die by the Biden Regime in a Ukrainian prison.

You might want to know why the authoritarian regime in Ukraine, the most corrupt country in Europe, to whom the Biden regime has sent over $120 billion of your tax dollars, arrested this American journalist.  His crime: telling the truth.  He spoke honestly about the war in Ukraine and gave fair and honest criticism of Ukrainian actions.  For that he was arrested and jailed last May.   

Normally when an American citizen is jailed for political reasons, our state department will at least try to help get that person sent back to the U.S.  In the case of Lira, the state department ignored him and left him to die.  He was never convicted of any crime, even if telling the truth was a crime.

Throughout the years I have had to deal with Americans overseas who get caught up in legal troubles.  What I have learned is this:  Do not count on your government help you.  The state department under Obama all but abandoned Prescott, AZ resident Kayla Mueller, leading to her death.  The same fate for Mr. Lira.  If you are traveling overseas make sure your friends and family know where you are and have the means to help you.  It is unfortunate, but you are likely to be abandoned by your government.  With one phone call to Ukraine, the Biden regime could have had Mr. Lira released.  Remember, this is the same country constantly begging for more and more billions of dollars.  You would think that a begging country would want to help its major benefactor.

Compare the Biden regime’s complete abandonment of Mr. Lira, who merely wrote articles about the war that the U.S. media ignored here, to
Brittney Grimes, the lesbian professional basketball player arrested in Russia. Grimes fit the narrative of a far leftist, even though she violated the law by importing drugs.  The state department spared no expense to free her, but completely ignored a journalist who had the temerity to tell the truth.

One article makes a great point: “The last point to make is that the USG’s culpability for Lira’s death in a secret Ukrainian prison is meant to send a message to all American dissidents abroad that their officials literally want them to die for the faux crime of speaking out against their policies. The Kiev regime maintains a growing kill list that’s ironically named “peacemaker” (“myrotvarets” in Ukrainian) and which includes a slew of American and other Western citizens like Lira.”  The Ukrainian dictatorship has a list of Americans to kill.  Mr. Lira was on the list.

I will continue to vote against any money to the corrupt, authoritarian Ukrainian government.  Our southern border remains open. The democrats and some Republicans have enabled this invasion.

God bless Texas, though.  Governor Abbot has sent the National Guard to help seal the border there, something Kari Lake promised to do here in Arizona if she was elected.   In order to create chaos, crime and disorder, the Biden regime is attacking Texas and trying to stop Texas from protecting its own borders.

Our country has never been run by a more incompetent, dishonest and devious group of people who truly believe in America Last.   Always last.

Arizona Education Savings Accounts—A Resounding Success

Arizona has some of the best schools in the nation.  Six Arizona high schools rank in the top 30 of all high schools nationally, according to U.S. News and World Report.

The Arizona legislature has also made getting the best education for your child easier than any other state, with the Empowerment Scholarship Account, or ESA.  The ESA is a groundbreaking program that allows parents and children to pick the best school that matches their interests, and then sends the state education funding to the school they choose.   This has resulted in 73,200 students choosing the school they want to go to and receiving the funds to attend that school.  In the past, a student could change schools, but the state education money would be sent to a low performing school, a wasteful school or a simply a school that was not a good fit for the student.

For reasons never clearly articulated, the leftist Teachers Union, and their political groups like the misnamed Save our Schools, hate the freedom of choice given to parents.  They take every opportunity to attack the ESA and recently Governor Hobbs, who also hates better education and education choices, lied about the ESA program in her state of the state address.  As reported: “Hobbs’ criticism of the ESA program comes days after she announced a plan to effectively dismantle the ESA program.”  Hobbs then attacked the ESA program for expenses she said were improper.  The problem was the improper expenses were approved by her friend and fellow democrat Kathy Hoffman.  Once Republican Tom Horne was elected, he put an end to the democrat waste and abuse.  “As reported by AZ Free News last January, Hoffman’s administration of the ESA program was described as neglectful and improper.”  Now that the democrat was removed, proper spending has been supervised.  Overall, this ESA program has shown great success and 73,000 students are very happy with their choices.

Read more here.

Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Constitution

This week, in Beck v. Neville, the Arizona Supreme Court issued a landmark decision protecting private property rights (in the context of a boundary dispute).  Notably, the Court explained that Arizona law is based not just on the U.S. Constitution, but rights set forth in the Declaration of Independence, something that has not been recognized as applicable to the federal government. This includes what are called “natural rights” that exist whether the state expressly codifies such rights.  In the case of Arizona, however, the state Enabling Act expressly mandated that Arizona law conform not just to the U.S. Constitution, but to Declaration of Independence.  This creates added protection to citizens and property owners in Arizona.  The court explained:

“The acknowledgement of the nature and importance of property rights in the Virginia Declaration, the Declaration of Independence, and in early constitutional jurisprudence is significant because Arizona’s Enabling Act, authorizing a convention to draft a state constitution, required that “[t]he constitution shall be republican in form and make no distinction in civil or political rights on account of race or color, and shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence.” A.R.S., Enab. Act, Sec. 20 (emphasis added). Thus, consistent with the principles of the Declaration of

Independence and the federal and Arizona Constitutions, the ownership of property is a natural right of significant interest which we have a duty to protect. Bristor v. Cheatham, 75 Ariz. 227, 234 (1953) (“It is the court’s duty to protect constitutional rights.”); see also Bailey v. Myers, 206 Ariz. 224, 227 ¶ 11 (App. 2003) (“The framers of our Constitution understood that one of the basic responsibilities of government is to protect private property.”

Secretary Mayorkas Update – I Told You So!

Last week I pointed out that Secretary Mayorkas lied on Fox News while answering questions from a reporter.  One such lie was his so-called “admission” that 70% of illegal aliens are being released into our communities.  You’ll recall that I called Secretary Mayorkas out on this lie and noted “it’s probably much closer to 100%, if truth were to be told.”  Well, this week Mayorkas was forced to admit that the current rate of release for illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border is “above 85%.”   Of course the release rate is above 85%.  No one is getting deported.  Hate to say it, but I told you so.

Congressional Hearing on Covid Vaccine Injuries 

This week, the first Congressional hearing on COVID-19 vaccine injuries was held.  Click here to watch it.  I am currently researching establishing a federal compensation fund for those who were seriously injured or killed by the reckless vaccine mandates and experimental technology used on people without consent.  I will have more to share on this in the near future.

The Democrat Policies Are Killing American Families – By the Numbers:

17.3%–Average increase in prices since Biden and the democrats took over.

20.2%–average food increase since Biden and the democrats took over.

19%–Average rent increase since Biden and the democrats took over.

25%–average electricity increase since Biden and the democrats took over.

2.5%–average American pay cut under Biden.

62%–numbers of Americans who report living paycheck to paycheck, including more than half earning over $100,000 per year.

27%–The number of 401(k) participants dipping into their retirement accounts just to pay bills.

60% –Number of Americans struggling to pay for their groceries.

$2.4 trillion since March 2022—the amount of money that Biden has cost Americans in economic losses.

$33,000–The average middle-class household loss in real wealth in just the past year.

$1 trillion–Credit card debt, the largest in U.S. history – with the average credit card balance now more than $6,000, the highest in ten years.

99%–number of Americans JPMorgan analysts predict will have less money than before the pandemic.

11—number of Fed interest rate hikes since March 2022, now at their highest level in 22 years.

99%–the number of Americans deemed unable to afford a new home.

14%– percent of voters who say they have been helped by Biden’s economic policies.

78 percent – The number of voters who say the economy is in bad shape.

81%–percent of Americans’ finances that have not improved in the past year, according to an Economist/YouGov poll.

8 of 10–eight of the top 10 states for jobs recovered since the coronavirus pandemic are led by Republican governors, and all 10 states have Republican-controlled legislatures.

8 of 10–eight of the top 10 states with the largest increases in personal income in the third quarter of 2023 are led by Republicans.

It’s Mail Time!

I receive thousands of letters each week and I appreciate hearing from everyone.  Here are samples of some of the letters I received this week:

Judy B. from Yuma Foothills writes:

Please hear us loud and clear. No Border!! No Budget!!  Also, thank you for your vote to indict Hunter!

Judy—absolutely correct.  None of the government should receive money while Americans are under a sustained invasion.  Crime.  Drugs.  Record fentanyl deaths.  Sex trafficking and pedophilia.   Evicting U.S. citizens, making them homeless, in order to house illegal aliens.  A government like this, that hates the very taxpayers that fund it, should not get any budget money.  I hope my other colleagues share that view. 

Allen H. from Wickenburg shares similar thoughts:

My wife and I respect you very much and thank you for serving. Please shut down the government if Biden doesn’t lock down the border.

Allen, thank you and thank you to your wife.  I respect the people in my district.  I fight for them – not big business, not the defense industries, not the open border globalists.  I want the families in America to be prosperous. I want our young adults to be able to buy a house and raise a family, and invest in our state and our nation.  The current regime despises you and your family.  They want to help illegal aliens come here, so that they can commit crimes, take jobs and lower wages, and use our schools, health care and food stamp programs.   BUT, they want you to pay for it with high taxes.  

I’ve heard the U.S. described as a tax farm, where we are all working jobs in order to pay outrageous amounts in taxes to a regime that then promptly sends that money overseas.  There is some truth to this critique.  I will, as I have in the past, vote for every tax cut possible.  And, in my time in congress, I have never voted for a tax increase.  I want you to keep your money.  

Barton A. from Bullhead City shares:

Just a quick note to thank you and your staff for all your hard work. It has to be tiring to having to swim upstream constantly while the sharks attack you. All I can say is thank God there are Patriots like each of you that sacrifice their lives to do all you can to save our Republic. I appreciate you and will continue to pray daily for your strength, endurance, and safety. God bless each one of you.

Barton, thank you for your considerate thoughts and prayers.   To be honest, it can be very difficult.  The left and the leftist media, lie about what is going on, lie about our economy, lie about Trump, lie about me, and it goes on and on and on.  Fortunately, there are sources available where you can get the truth (including my newsletter)!  Hearing from you reinforces my faith and I will continue to help save our country.  

Michael W. from Yuma wrote:

Biden gave a speech in Valley Forge, Pa. He stated that the GOP and Trump followers were Nazis and hurting Democracy. Here is my reply to Biden:

Nazis arrested political dissenters and opponents. They performed debauchery and deviant acts of sex. Persecuted religions and parents. Nazis also monitored speech and caused derision between races or ethnic groups. Plus, they were pedophiles. Sound familiar?

What have the democrats done so far under Biden? Arrested political dissenters. They criminalized Catholics and parents speaking out against deviant school policy. They welcomed debauchery in our elementary schools with drag queen story time and sex shows. Now speech is monitored for calling someone by the wrong pronoun. And racist accusations are a dime a dozen against conservatives. Pedophilia is considered a preference instead of the mental disorder it is.

Michael—well said.   Also, Biden and his lunatic followers are literally supporting Nazis in Ukraine.  My tax money and yours (over $120 billion and counting) has been sent to help card carrying Nazi militias.  The left has alway had authoritarian tendencies.  Stalin, Mao, Maduro, Castro, and Biden share the same love of power.  They have two mantras:  to force you to do what they want you to do, and to ban or criminalize anything they don’t like (like free speech, medical freedom or fair elections).  For the experimental vaccine, they endorsed mandatory vaccination, vaccine passports, and job terminations (including in the military). Why?  Because they wanted you to take it, so they used the power of the government to force us.  But by the same token, they don’t like free speech that is critical of their insane policies, the woke agenda, DEI and other Marxist ideas.  So, they ban and criminalize political criticism of these policies.  In short, Biden and the far-left democrats are an imminent threat to our Constitution, our way of life, and our rule of law.  

Marilyn C. from Avondale, AZ offers this suggestion.

I am your constituent, living in Avondale, just outside of Goodyear, AZ. Can you sponsor legislation that would help me, and others like me.

I speak on behalf of the Covid-19 vaccine injured. Worldwide estimates are that 1 in 35 people have been injured by the vaccine. I have neurological/ auto immune damage starting 2 weeks after my second Pfizer shot. Walking 6 paces is a challenge for me; I used to walk 2 miles per day. Since I am older, 75 with some pre-existing conditions, I can qualify for nothing, can prove nothing in a court of law. I have been impoverished by treatments not covered by insurance, that did not work.

Other patients have died of “turbo cancers.” Others have dropped dead suddenly of cardiovascular problems, such as myocarditis. Still others suffer from long clots in blood vessels, often detected only at autopsy.

A lot of people know someone damaged by the Covid vaccine. I have lost two members of my family to “turbo cancers.” Then there are impaired famous people: Justin Bieber, Celine Dionne, Megan Kelly.

Yet, the madness continues at the FDA, CDC, the Biden administration. They want children to take the latest shot, though the Omicron variant is substantially less virulent, and the original had a fatality rate less than 0.25%. Censorship is rife. Doctors are afraid to speak out, for fear they will lose their licenses,

Sen. Ron Johnson held a hearing on this recently.

Can you PLEASE introduce legislation to:

1. Help vaccine-injured patients’ treatments be covered by insurance. It would be helpful if vaccine injury was a recognized syndrome.
2. Withdraw from the WHO.
3. Penalize the drug companies for violations of Informed Consent. In my opinion, both Albert Boorla and Dr. Anthony Fauci should both be tried in International Court.
4. Create strong penalties for censorship of needed information, or penalize facilities and schools that required the shot,

These are some suggestions; you know better than I how to proceed. I will probably be dead, barring a miracle, before any lawsuits settle, or legislation passes. I just want to be part of the solution.

Marilyn, thank you for your thoughtful letter.  There are two bills I have been working on to address this catastrophe.  One of my bills will create a covid vaccine injury compensation fund.  Currently, CICP fund is not functioning and has denied nearly 100% of all claims.  My bill will create a special fund available for all patients harmed by the experimental and dangerous vaccine.   My other bill would consider eliminating the immunity for legal liability of the pharmaceutical companies.   These billion-dollar companies have a long track record of harming hundreds of thousands of Americans.  Marilyn, if you do something wrong, like run a red light and hit a pedestrian, you have no immunity.   You could be sued for damages.   But the pharmaceutical companies can harm as many people as they want without any recourse.  This is travesty of justice.  

Let me ask this: Do you think these pharmaceutical companies would have forced an experimental and dangerous drug on innocent people if they could be sued for damages?  No, they wouldn’t.   

Your other ideas are quite good, and we will look at them.   

Tweet of the Week:

Photo of the Week:

Mike Callahan from Paulden, Arizona shared this sunrise photo he snapped on New Year’s Day over Little Thumb Butte.  Incredible!  Thanks for sharing, Mike.

Do you have photography skills?  Do you want the chance for your photograph to be featured as our “Picture of the Week?”   If so, send your best shots of our great state along with a brief description to Anthony.foti@mail.house.gov.  Remember to include your name and where you live.  We have a beautiful state, let’s show her off!

Gosar in the News and Other Must-Read Stories:

Fox News: Republicans accelerate probe into Biden administration’s actions to house migrants on federal lands

Axios: Homelessness in the U.S. jumped to record level in 2023, government says

Washington Times: Debunking myths about the Israel-Hamas conflict

New York Post: Hunter Biden’s crashing of Congress, cracked reality are making his family look like a circus

New York Post: Biden’s continued cynical use of race won’t help him in November

Washington Post: House Republicans say ‘drastic failures’ uncovered in first day of Fauci interview

Daily Mail: Fauci flip flops during Congress grilling: Ex-White House doctor ducks more than 100 questions about Covid and admits he approved risky Wuhan coronavirus research proposal without reading it

The National Pulse: Ray Epps, Who Confessed to ‘Orchestrating’ Jan 6, Gets Just 1 Year Probation & $500 Fine.

Fox News: Mayorkas tells Border Patrol agents that ‘above 85%’ of illegal immigrants released into US: sources

Warning!!  The Gosar Weekly Newsletter is meant for discerning readers with above average intelligence.  If you are a reporter, it probably means you are in over your head already.  We link to interesting stories.  We get stories a couple different ways: Google alerts, a third-party aggregator and sometimes readers send stuff.  We don’t vouch for every publication or every author.  If we link to a story, it is because of that story. The views expressed in any of the publications do not represent any promotion, endorsement or reflection of Congressman Gosar’s views.  While we try our best, we cannot guarantee every news organization spouting hatred, animosity or divisiveness will be filtered from appearing in the Gosar Weekly Newsletter.  We will endeavor to prevent that from happening by never linking to Fake News organizations including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Rolling Stone, the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Mirror, Media Matters or the New Republic.