Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) suggested it had “become clear that Congresswoman Tlaib’s allegiance lies with Hamas,” and that were she privy to sensitive information, it would “put American and Israeli lives at risk.”
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) has come under fire for spreading a Hamas lie about Israeli culpability behind an explosion at a Gaza hospital earlier in the week, with demands for her exclusion from future classified briefings on Israel’s military operations.
The controversy escalated when Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) sent a letter on Thursday, in which he vehemently criticized Rep. Tlaib for allegedly disseminating “misinformation” by supporting Hamas’ assertion that Israeli forces were responsible for the hospital explosion, Fox News reported.
Findings from both U.S. and Israeli intelligence showed that the explosion resulted from a terror rocket launched within Gaza and not from an Israeli strike. The findings were independently corroborated from CNN and a host of other news sites.
In his letter, addressed to high-ranking officials including Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Jackson labeled Tlaib a “Hamas sympathizer.” He urgently requested that she be barred from any future briefings concerning military operations or strategies in Israel, citing the potential risk her participation poses to both American and Israeli security interests.
“I demand that Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib be prevented from participating in any classified briefing about Israel’s ongoing military operations, Israel’s self-defense efforts, or any American military movements in and around the region,” Jackson wrote.
“We must not allow Hamas sympathizers in this body to serve as the mouthpiece for Palestinian terrorists. Rather than condemn the attacks by Hamas, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has chosen to side with Hamas by spreading misinformation,” he wrote.
Rep. Jackson’s concerns don’t stop at misinformation. He suggested a deeper issue, saying it had “become clear that Congresswoman Tlaib’s allegiance lies with Hamas,” and that were she privy to sensitive information, it would “put American and Israeli lives at risk.”
His demands extended to the immediate revocation of her security clearance and exclusion from pertinent security briefings.