Six days before Christmas, the House Jan. 6 Committee gave Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) a referral to the House Ethics Committee. In response to the committee’s final attempt to bend Biggs to their will, Biggs promised to publicize the committee’s “lies” and correct the record.
The referral was part of a larger set of referrals capping off the committee’s final hearing, chief among which was the criminal referrals of former President Donald Trump, former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, and Kenneth Cheseboro to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The committee referred Biggs for sanctions to the House Ethics Committee for failing to comply with their subpoenas. They suggested that Biggs and others referred for sanctions should be questioned publicly about their “advance knowledge of and role in President Trump’s plan to prevent the peaceful transition of power.”
The committee announced their decision after their final meeting on Monday, and issued a 154-page report of their findings.
Although the committee publicized a number of records within its report, they’ve refused to publish certain information of interest. Records of federal involvement — such as the ongoing mystery behind Ray Epps, who appears to be the only Capitol intruder to avoid prosecution — remain inaccessible to the public.
Monday’s decision by the committee was punishment for Biggs’ refusal to comply with their subpoena. The congressman refused to turn over information regarding Jan. 6 and then refused to appear for his deposition.
The Jan. 6 Committee findings documented Biggs’ communications with Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, advising their administration to encourage state legislators to appoint electors, and to not allow Trump to concede the election. Biggs also coordinated with defeated secretary of state candidate, then a state representative, Mark Finchem, to gather Arizona lawmaker signatures in support of new electors.
The committee also noted Biggs’ criticisms of their work.
Biggs decried the committee’s announcement as “their final political stunt” of many. Biggs added that the committee’s use of the House Ethics Committee was an inappropriate maneuver to justify “predetermined” conclusions.
“They only wanted the testimony to have the ability to edit and misconstrue our statements to further their own false narratives, as they did with so many other witnesses,” stated Biggs.
In addition to Biggs, Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23), Jim Jordan (R-OH-04), and Scott Perry (R-PA-10) were referred for an ethics probe.
The committee claimed that Trump violated 18 U.S.C. § 1512(C), 371, 1001, and 2383. These statutes prohibit the obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to make a false statement, and incite, assist, or aid or comfort an insurrection.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08) declared that the committee’s hands were tied “inescapably” by the application of facts to law.
“We understand the gravity of each and every referral we are making today… just as we understand the magnitude of the crime against democracy we describe in our Report,” stated Raskin.
Among those to testify against Trump before the Jan 6. Committee was outgoing House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa).
Watch the full meeting here:
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Conservative pundit Mark Levin accused Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) of being a “fraud” and “phony conservative” over opposition to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23) as House Speaker.
Biggs responded with the claim that Levin’s support was merely opportunism. The representative showed evidence that Levin has long opposed McCarthy.
“Levin is the biggest fraud in politics right now. For years, this guy castigated McCarthy publicly (with no shame),” tweeted Biggs. “Now, he is all in for him and wants his audience to turn a blind eye. Total fraud.”
Levin is the biggest fraud in politics right now.
For years, this guy castigated McCarthy publicly (with no shame).
Now, he is all in for him and wants his audience to turn a blind eye.
Levin made Biggs the subject of his Tuesday radio show. The pundit noted Biggs’ long opposition to the Convention of States, and recent vote for Tom Emmer (R-MN-06), who Levin called a “RINO” (Republican In Name Only), over Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN-03) for a House leadership position.
Levin responded to Biggs’ flip-flopping accusation without addressing any of his prior opposition to McCarthy.
Biggs is a political hack and his Arizona constituents have been misled by him along enough. He tried but failed to do grave damage to patriotic constitutionalists all across the country. He can’t hide behind his asinine tweets. https://t.co/xz5RZodn5e
In a Daily Caller column, Biggs painted McCarthy as a feckless leader for over six years. Biggs declared McCarthy was the establishment’s pick because he has a track record of maintaining the status quo for Democrats. He cited a forthcoming spending package from Biden that he said will worsen national debt, noting that McCarthy supports it.
Biggs also criticized McCarthy for circulating a censure resolution for former President Donald Trump and protecting outgoing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) until Cheney personally embarrassed McCarthy.
He disclosed that McCarthy thwarted efforts to challenge Democrats by requiring a vote on every bill, reportedly calling it “inconvenient.”
McCarthy teased a bid for the speakership in 2015, but withdrew amid rumors of an affair with former North Carolina Rep. Renee Ellmers. McCarthy failed to secure the speakership again in 2018 after Democrats took over the majority.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Republican Reps. Paul Gosar (AZ-04) and Andy Biggs (AZ-05) joined an amicus brief with 15 other lawmakers to prevent future airplane mask mandates.
Specifically, the lawmakers challenged the CDC’s legal authority to issue a mask mandate for airplane travel in Health Freedom Defense Fund v. Biden. They contested that Congress hadn’t and couldn’t grant the CDC the authority for such a mandate.
Astonishingly, Biden is still fighting to force you to wear masks on airplanes.
That’s why several of my colleagues and I are fighting back.
We sued the CDC, but another case received a ruling before ours, so we filed an amicus brief for that suit:https://t.co/YLylPHEihw
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY-04) led the amicus brief, joined by Biggs and Republican Reps. Barry Moore (AL-02), Lauren Boebert (CO-03), Bill Posey (FL-08), Brian Mast (FL-18), Andrew Clyde (GA-09), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14), Matt Rosendale (MT), Dan Bishop (NC-09), Warren Davidson (OH-08), Ralph Norman (SC-05), Chip Roy (TX-21), Bob Good (VA-05), and Alex Mooney (WV-02).
Sen. Rand Paul (KY) also joined the amicus brief. These Congress members represent 13 different states.
The case is before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals currently.
The Florida Middle District Court ruled against the Biden administration in April, finding that the CDC exceeded its statutory authority and failed to follow notice and comment rulemaking. Following the loss, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a joint statement with the CDC pledging an appeal of the ruling.
“The Department continues to believe that the order requiring masking in the transportation corridor is a valid exercise of the authority Congress has given CDC to protect the public health,” stated the DOJ.
The lawsuit follows legislative attempts to end the mandate and prevent future ones, and years of aggressive crackdowns on resistance to mask-wearing on flights.
Last July, Biggs and Paul introduced legislation to prohibit mask mandates for public transportation. Neither version of the legislation made it to a committee in the Democratic-controlled Congress.
For two years, airlines put passengers who refused to mask up on their “no-fly list.” In February, Delta Airlines asked other airlines to share their no-fly lists to expand its own.
Negative public response to the move caused the company to backtrack. By April, Delta began removing people who refused to adhere to masking requirements from its no-fly list.
Last December, the CEO of Southwest Airlines testified to the Senate his doubts about masks’ ability to prevent COVID-19 transmission in airplanes. The fully vaccinated, double-boosted CEO caught COVID-19 a day after that testimony.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) decried the Biden administration’s reliance on leftist dark money network polling rather than science to determine school masking policy.
Government emails indicate that the CDC relied on polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) to set school masking policy. KFF is a left-wing dark money group that receives much of its funding through Big Tech and Silicon Valley. America First Legal (AFL) uncovered this connection via documents obtained through its lawsuit against the CDC.
The Biden Admin’s ‘guidance’ on masking children was never about science.
Three days after top Biden administration officials received an email from KFF CEO and President Drew Altman that mandatory masking was a “political winner” for the majority of the country.
Altman advised the officials that 63 percent of citizens favor school masking, the CDC recommended universal masking for all children two and up. Altman’s phrasing implied the familiarity of longtime colleagues or a trusted advisor, not communication between separate entities.
“We have the scoop on the issue of the moment, masks in schools. A very solid majority favor school masking requirements (63 percent), with 36 percent opposing. That 36 percent is made up of the usual suspects and of course is large enough to make some trouble in parts of the country and generate news,” wrote Altman. “At this point in time, asking unvaccinated students/staff to wear masks in school is more broadly popular than vaccine mandates. Prohibitions against schools requiring masks (which seven states now have), may only be a political winner in deep-red communities.”
The Biden administration’s apparent reliance on political advisors rather than scientific evidence would explain their reaction to the state’s attempts to dispel mandatory masking in schools.
Last year, Department of Education (ED) Secretary Miguel Cardona told Governor Doug Ducey that the state couldn’t use federal COVID-19 relief funds to reward mask-free schooling. In a response letter, Biggs accused Cardona of weaponizing the ED against states following scientific evidence.
Ducey sued the Biden administration for their attempt to recoup the relief funds, but the Arizona District Court dismissed the case in July for failure to state a claim. Ducey appealed the ruling. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals released the case (no. 22-16101, Ducey v. Yellen, et al) from its Mediation Program last month, meaning that the Biden administration and the state were unable to resolve their appeal.
This set of documents revealing the Biden administration’s reliance on Big Tech to set policy is the third in AFL’s discovery of the two entities’ collusion. Earlier this summer, AFL uncovered documents revealing that the CDC and Big Tech worked together to censor alleged misinformation pertaining to COVID-19. In September, AFL advanced this discovery with further documents showing the CDC directing Facebook and Twitter to censor and punish dissidents.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Congressmen Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) joined 128 congressmen in a petition asking the federal government to investigate foreign investment in U.S. farmland.
The request letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) named Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, and Saudi Arabia as top foreign investors of interest. Most notably, the letter cited China’s purchase of farmland just 20 minutes from the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, where the military hosts critical drone technology. Approximately three hours west of that base is Minot Air Force Base, one of the nation’s three intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) defense sites.
As of 2020, foreign owners and investors accounted for 37.6 million acres — nearly 3 percent of farmland. Since 2015, foreign ownership has increased by about 2.2 million acres annually. When the federal government began tracking foreign ownership of farmland in 1979, foreigners owned 5.6 million acres of farmland of the 1.4 billion acres of privately held farmland.
The congressmen asked the GAO to evaluate the trends and details of foreign ownership, provide data collection methods on foreign ownership, disclose procedures ensuring proper disclosures of foreign acquisitions and sales of farmland, evaluate whether foreign ownership filtered through a U.S. charter company or corporation is accurately labeled as foreign ownership, disclose review methods ensuring foreign-owned land doesn’t pose a national security threat, suggest improvements to strengthen reporting of foreign ownership, and disclose interagency and nongovernmental partnerships that ensure accurate disclosures of foreign ownership.
Each year, the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) issues a data report on foreign-owned farmland. The 2021 FSA report hasn’t been published yet.
