Donald Trump wouldnβt let Sharpiegate go when he kept insisting that Alabama was in grave danger from Hurricane Dorian, and now, neither will the Democrats.
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, led by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), started an investigation into whether Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross meddled in the presentation of scientific fact in order to make Trump, his boss, look good.
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As the Hill reports:
Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Wednesday, requesting a briefing from him [...] .
βIt appears that in an attempt to support President Donald Trumpβs incorrect tweet asserting that Alabama would be βhit (much) harder than anticipatedβ by Hurricane Dorian, Commerce officials may have taken a number of steps to pressure NOAA into supporting the Presidentβs assertions,β the lawmakers wrote in their letter to Ross.
NOAA, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and its offshoot the National Weather Service are both under Rossβ control as part of the Commerce Department he heads.
After Trumpβs Alabama tweet raised concern among people living in the state, the weather service there tweeted out that Alabama was actually in no danger from the storm.
But days later on Sept. 6β reportedly after Ross threatened to fire key NOAA staffβthe NOAA sent out anotherΒ tweet saying that the Alabama office had been wrong to dispute Trump.
Trump called the reporting about Ross demanding firings βfake.β But, now, Democrats want answers.
In their letter to Ross, Johnson and Sherrill wrote, per the Washington Post:
βWe are deeply disturbed by the politicization of NOAAβs weather forecast activities for the purpose of supporting incorrect statements by the president.β
[...] J
The House members are seeking answers to who ordered and helped draft the Sept. 6 statement and whether Commerce Department or White House staff members were involved in threatening NOAA leadership to secure the statement.
βWe are committed to supporting the activities of the NWS and its dedicated staff. During your Senate confirmation hearing, you committed to allowing federal scientists to βbe free to communicate data clearly and conciselyβ and that you would βnot interfere with the release of factual scientific data,ββ Johnson and Sherrill wrote to Ross.
The two lawmakers said if reports of Rossβ interference were true, it would appear βthat Ross violated the βvalues of scientific integrity,ββ according to the Post.
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