Accountable.US, a left-leaning corruption watchdog group, filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics demanding an investigation into Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert.
The group wrote a letter to Omar Ashmawy, the chief counsel and staff director at the Office of Congressional Ethics, asking for an investigation into Gohmert’s use of face masks prior to the congressman’s positive coronavirus test in late July. Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig accused Gohmert of putting “his staff, colleagues, and other House staff at risk” by not wearing a mask prior to his positive COVID-19 test.
“After he recently contracted COVID-19, news reports revealed that Rep. Gohmert’s consistent failure to wear a mask resulted in staff across Capitol Hill feeling that they were putting their health in danger by showing up to work. At least one member of Gohmert’s staff appears to have learned of their boss’s COVID-19 status through media reports,” the group said in the letter.
“It is alarming to learn that members of Rep. Gohmert’s staff who expressed concerns about safety protocols were ignored or laughed off,” the group added.
Gohmert had attended two House committee hearings, where he was temporarily spotted without a face mask in the days prior to his positive COVID-19 test. A photograph of him standing next to Attorney General William Barr prior to one hearing prompted Barr to be tested for the virus. Herrig noted that Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat, tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the hearings with Gohmert.
“Rep. Gohmert has repeatedly opted not to wear a mask out of personal preference — putting his own health, and the health of all those who work for and around him, in danger,” Herrig said.
In June, House Democrats began to require all members to wear masks during hearings unless they were speaking. Herrig accused Gohmert of breaking the House’s policy on masks and undermining the “credibility of the House.”
Following his positive COVID-19 test, Gohmert noted that he had been wearing a mask during most of the hearings. He questioned whether he contracted the coronavirus because he was wearing a mask.
