One of the extra colourful conservative members of the U.S. House informed HuffPost he stands by current remarks by which he mentioned a few of his fellow members had been doubtless victims of blackmail.
But Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who made the feedback on a Dec. 21 podcast with a right-wing commentator, declined to elaborate on who he was speaking about or give another particulars.
“You as a member of the media understand confidentiality, and I appreciate that, and I am going to keep that confidential unless those people tell me otherwise,” Burchett informed HuffPost on Thursday.
Asked if he was standing by his feedback, Burchett mentioned, “Sure. I’m not going to back up.”
And when requested if he believed there have been House members who had determined find out how to vote based mostly on compromising materials about them held by international powers, Burchett mentioned, “Absolutely. And other powers. It doesn’t have to be foreign powers.”
On “The Benny Show” podcast, hosted by Benny Johnson, Burchett mentioned, with out pointing to particular proof or names, that highly effective individuals shield their very own pursuits by blackmail.
“The old honey pot. The Russians do that. And I’m sure members of Congress have been caught up. Why in the world would good conservatives vote for crazy stuff like what we’ve been seeing out of Congress?” he requested.
He mentioned members could also be on a visit or at a bar, meet somebody and purchase them a drink.
“Next thing you know, you’re in a hotel room with them, naked. Next thing you know, you’re about to make a key vote, and what happens? Some well-dressed person comes up and whispers into your ear, ‘Hey, man, there’s tapes out on you. Were you in a motel room on whatever with whoever?’ And then you’re, like, ‘Uh-oh.’ And they say, ‘You really ought not be voting for this thing.’”
“They know what to get at. If it’s women, drugs, booze — it’ll find you in D.C. And other elected offices,” he informed Johnson.
(Johnson was fired in 2014 from BuzzFeed, the guardian firm of HuffPost, after 40 cases of plagiarism had been present in his work.)
Burchett’s remarks had been essentially the most lurid accusations since former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) alleged, additionally with out proof, that he had witnessed anti-drug dependancy leaders doing cocaine and had been invited by colleagues to orgies in Washington. Cawthorn’s claims had been broadly derided, and he misplaced his major election in 2022.
Burchett, elected in 2018 and a former mayor and state legislator, has a fame as one of many extra pleasant and quotable members of the House, usually calling fellow lawmakers, reporters and even random guests to the Capitol “brother.”
He’s additionally been taken with authorities actions concerning “unidentified aerial phenomena,” the brand new moniker for what was once known as UFOs, unidentified flying objects. Burchett mentioned he’s much less taken with “little green men or the saucers” than in why the federal government is spending cash on a problem it says doesn’t exist.
Burchett additionally drew consideration as one among eight House Republicans to vote to depose former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Before McCarthy left Congress, he and Burchett acquired right into a loud confrontation after Burchett accused McCarthy of elbowing him whereas passing behind him in a Capitol basement hallway.
On the blackmail allegations, Burchett mentioned he wouldn’t “disclose what somebody has told me, something in confidence,” nor would he go to the authorities until he acquired permission as nicely.
He mentioned his allegations shouldn’t make individuals assume all lawmakers had been compromised, nonetheless, even when they reinforce essentially the most cynical views of Washington.
“They’re not all crooked. The vast majority of people up here do the right thing. They just get caught in bad situations. That’s all,” he mentioned.
