'That Was An Attack!': Rep. Ilhan Omar, Special Envoy Elliot Abrams Clash At Venezuela Hearing
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Junior Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was involved in a heated exchange Wednesday with President Donald Trump's new special envoy to Venezuela.
It occurred during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing involving Elliot Abrams, who formerly served as assistant secretary of state for President Ronald Reagan in the midst of the Iran-Contra affair, and as George W. Bush's National Security Council's senior director of democracy and human rights.
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Rep. Omar, who addressed Special Envoy Abrams as "Mr. Adams," questioned his commitment to human rights, and specifically his honesty to the committee, citing his 1991 conviction for withholding information to Congress during the Iran-Contra hearings. Abrams was later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.
"I fail to understand why members of this committee or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful," Omar said.
Abrams then asked to respond to Rep. Omar's comment, causing the Congresswoman to clarify that she did ask him a question.
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"That was an attack!" Abrams said. "It is not right that a member of this committee can attack a witness who is not permitted to reply!"
Omar said she was not yielding any of her time and moved on.
"That was not a question," Omar said. "Thank you for your participation."
Rep. Omar then cited Abrams' involvement with Central American regimes during the Reagan era that committed human rights atrocities, specifically the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador in the early 80s. Abrams had stated in a 1982 Senate hearing that the administration's role in that nation had been a "fabulous achievement."
Omar: Yes or no, do you think [the El Mozote massacre] was a "fabulous achievement" that happened under our watch?
Abrams: That is a ridiculous question and I will not answer it.
Omar: Yes or no?
Abrams: No!
Omar: I will take that as a yes.
Abrams: I'm sorry [Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel], I'm not going to respond to that kind of personal attack, which is not a question.
Rep. Omar has been under major scrutiny since Sunday after writing several tweets critical of Israel and its U.S. political supporters -- tweets that many considered to contain antisemitic tropes. She is now front and center in a national debate on antisemitism and the consequences of controversial posts on social media.
Republicans, including President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, are calling on Omar to be removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
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