Stuntman Doug LaMalfa insults his constituents

Rep. Doug LaMalfa thinks his constituents are idiots. That’s our takeaway from the Richvale congressman’s decision to join a couple of dozen House Republicans and barge into a closed-door hearing in the basement of the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday (Oct. 23), where members of his party and Democrats were gathered for a deposition related to the ongoing presidential impeachment inquiry.

Their complaint: that Democrats should allow the American people to hear witness testimony, not hold “secret impeachment depositions.”

Joining that dog and pony show meant LaMalfa stood in solidarity with many fringe Republicans—including Iowa Rep. Steve King, a white supremacist sympathizer. To the embarrassment of California’s 1st Congressional District, his sycophantic display made national television and newspapers.

Thing is, LaMalfa isn’t on any of the congressional committees involved in this fact-finding phase of the impeachment inquiry. Butte County’s welfare-king rice farmer serves on the agriculture committee (conflict of interest much?), as well as the transportation and infrastructure committee.

This was nothing more than a shameful stunt designed to distract the public from the question at hand—whether the president of the United States abused his position for personal gain and threatened national security in the process. To wit, Trump is accused of leaning on Ukraine’s president to dig up dirt on his chief election rival, Joe Biden, in exchange for weapons that would allow that developing democracy to protect itself from Russia’s continuing incursion.

Speaking of compromising national security, the tantrum by the House Republicans included them taking cellphones into the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (aka SCIF), an environment in which sensitive information can be safely discussed.

LaMalfa’s performance was the second in as many weeks. On Oct. 17, he posted on Twitter a photo of himself walking through the door of a restricted area of the Capitol. “The American people deserve transparency,” he said. He’ll soon get his wish. A vote on the House floor on the rules for public hearings is expected as soon as today (Oct. 31).

Interestingly, while LaMalfa’s gang chided Democrats only on procedure, Trump humiliated them by saying the process was fine. The president maintains the substance of the impeachment inquiry is off base, denying he delivered a quid pro quo. Considering the increasing cast of American patriots testifying to the contrary, and the fact that evidence thus far is quite damning, LaMalfa looks like a clown.

This is serious business. Not a joke. Our advice to LaMalfa: Pull your lips off the president’s backside and stop insulting our intelligence.