Pro-Trump lawmaker’s siblings are demanding he be removed from Congress
‘Five people are dead and Congress has been attacked. Somebody has to pay a penalty for it,’ Mr Gosar’s brother says
Three out of Republican Representative Paul Gosar's nine siblings are calling for him to be expelled from the House of Representatives.
The siblings have reached out to Mr Gosar's fellow Arizona Representative, Democrat Raúl Grijalva, in an attempt to get their brother removed from Congress after the fatal Capitol riots, which they argue Mr Gosar helped encourage. Mr Gosar said he was focusing on keeping President Trump accountable.
For the third time in as many years, members of Mr Gosar's family are trying to end his career in politics. Mr Gosar's sister Jennifer Gosar told The Arizona Republic: "We know him to be an extremist and we took that very seriously ... I believe that my brother has been a constant perpetrator of misinformation ... I've been incredulous at the lack of accountability thus far. I would think Wednesday would be certainly a line."
Mr Gosar's brother Tim Gosar said: "He's set a dangerous sort of precedent along the 10 years he's been in office ... When you talk about what happened the other day, you're talking about treason. You're talking about overthrowing the government. That's what this is. If that doesn't rise to the level of expulsion, what does?"
Riding on the waves of the conservative Tea Party movement, Mr Gosar entered the House in 2010. The former dentist represents one of the most conservative districts in Arizona, which covers a large section of the western part of the state.
One of Mr Gosar's other siblings, David Gosar, said that he "has parroted the exact same lies that Trump has" when it comes to the election.
"Five people are dead and Congress has been attacked. Somebody has to pay a penalty for it," he said.
Mr Grijalva said some members of Congress "threw gasoline on an already-raging fire".
"If a member of congress willingly violated their oath of office and tacitly encouraged a mob to overturn the results of democratic elections, their actions should be investigated and they should face consequences. If that includes expulsion, so be it," Mr Grijalva said.
Mr Gosar proceeded with his objections to the results after the storming of the Capitol and baselessly blamed the violence on "Antifa".
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