'Offensive and uneducated': Dem dresses down lawyer at House hearing over Gestapo remark

A Vermont Democratic lawmaker tore into a right-wing lawyer during a Wednesday afternoon hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution after he compared FBI agents to the German secret police under Nazi Germany.

The lawyer in question, Steve Crampton, is a former candidate for Mississippi Supreme Court and senior counsel for Thomas More Society, a Catholic-affiliated public interest law group known for its litigation against abortion rights and LGBTQ rights. The hearing concerned the FBI arresting anti-abortion activists who blocked entrances to clinics, a federal crime under the FACE Act — which has outraged many Republicans.

Rep. Becca Balint, who is Jewish and lost family members in the Holocaust, set the record straight on the comparison.

"I have to start by saying, words absolutely matter," said Balint. "And Mr. Crampton, earlier, you likened the FBI to the Gestapo, to Nazis. And that kind of rhetoric is not actually helpful in this debate."

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"The Gestapo operated without any civil restraints," she continued. "Its actions were not subject to judicial appeal. Thousands of citizens, including Jews, trade unionists, political clergy and others simply disappeared into concentration camps, one of those being my grandfather. The political arm of the Gestapo could order prisoners to be maimed, tortured, murdered, there was no legal process. The Gestapo, under Adolf Eichmann, organized the deportation of millions and millions of Jews to concentration camps."

"Now I understand you feel passionately about this issue," Balint added. "I do, I understand that. But your use of the word Gestapo is inappropriate, it's offensive, and it's uneducated. And I urge you, I urge you as you continue your work, to cease using this terminology. Because I think what we are trying to do here is to actually elicit testimony that is helpful to get us to a better place, and I don't think that is helping."

Watch the video below or at the link here.