"Do your job": Jason Chaffetz town hall overrun with constituents demanding he investigate Trump

When a crowd started chanting "Do your job" at Jason Chaffetz, it may be a sign that he's not actually doing it

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published February 10, 2017 1:40PM (EST)

 (AP)
(AP)

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, yet he has been unwilling to perform oversight on President Trump's numerous conflicts of interest. On Thursday night, his constituents appeared at a town hall meeting to demand that he start looking into them.

After being asked why he wasn't investigating Trump's tax returns, the crowd began chanting "Do your job!" at the beleaguered congressman. This was most likely a reference to how Chaffetz, by his own admission, allowed his first meeting with Trump to be conducted on the president's terms, who opened it by demanding that they not discuss oversight on any of his financial matters. Chaffetz has instead promised to continue his investigations on Hillary Clinton.

There were other issues over which Chaffetz was grilled. A young girl asked the Republican about his plans to protect the air and water and the crowd booed when he replied that supports an all-of-the-above energy strategy, which includes mining for coal. https://twitter.com/ericbradner/status/829873005312421889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Chaffetz was booed so often that he repeatedly found himself saying "Hold on" and "Give me a second" when trying to answer the audience's questions. Ultimately Chaffetz left the rally 40 minutes early.

 

Outside the high school auditorium where the event was being held, protesters chanted "Vote him out!" One woman was arrested.

 


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

MORE FROM Matthew Rozsa


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Donald Trump Jason Chaffetz