Senator Schmitt Torches Soros-Funded Witness during Senate Judiciary Hearing, Highlights Bill to Denaturalize Scammers

WASHINGTON -Today, during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts and Oversight hearing, U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) highlighted his White House-endorsed Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act to denaturalize individuals that commit fraud, other serious felonies, or join a terrorist organization after they swore their oath of citizenship. He also pressed a Soros-funded witness about the ways his organization weaponized claims of "racism" to intimidate and coerce behavior.

Watch Senator Schmitt's full line of questioning HERE

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman, American citizenship is a gift and also a sacred duty. It comes with extraordinary rights and important responsibilities. Responsibilities are preconditioned to those rights. That's why our forefathers created strict rules for naturalizing new citizens. On the front end, those who wish to become Americans must prove they are persons of good moral character, of loyal to our country and attached to our Constitution. On the back end, we have the ability to revoke the citizenship of those who lie or deceive us in the process of securing it. We've seen those standards of citizenship be debased. Look at the stories of just the past few months in Minneapolis. Case after case, naturalized U.S. citizens behaving in ways that show, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that they were never fit for citizenship in the first place. […] Something has to change, which is why I introduced the SCAM Act to expand and accelerate our ability to denaturalize people who should have never become citizens in the first place. If you use your new citizen citizenship to commit massive welfare fraud aggravated felonies or espionage or join drug cartels or terrorist organizations. You were never fit to be called an American at all. I encourage my colleagues to on this committee to support that important legislation," Senator Schmitt said during his opening remarks.

Senator Schmitt to George Soros-funded Witness: Prosecuting Fraud Isn't 'Racist'

Senator Schmitt: "Now, Mr. Weissman, you are the Co-CEO of Public Citizen, is that correct?"

Robert Weissman, Co-President of Public Citizen: "Co-President, yes sir."

Senator Schmitt: "Okay, is welfare and grant fraud in the national public interest?

Mr. Weissman: "It is 100 percent contrary to the national interest."

Senator Schmitt: "Okay, but taking it on would be in the national interest, correct?"

Mr. Weissman: "Taking it on is absolutely a national interest."

Senator Schmitt: "Interesting. Is fraud prevention racist?"

Mr. Weissman: "Fraud prevention is not racist, no."

Senator Schmitt: "Are current fraud prevention efforts by the Trump administration in Minnesota racist?"

Mr. Weissman: "No."

Senator Schmitt: "Are deportations racist?"

Mr. Weissman: "It depends. They can be racist."

Senator Schmitt: "Is [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] racist?"

Mr. Weissman: "I think the practices of ICE right now are poor and should be abhorrent, exactly as you said, for American values. I think the practices of ice right now -"

Senator Schmitt: "But ICE itself, the organization, is it racist?"

Mr. Weissman: "Enforcing immigration and customs laws per se, is not racist. What ICE actually is doing, I believe can fairly be characterized as racist."

Senator Schmitt: "I asked this because we did a little bit of digging into Public Citizen and found two things. One is, you're funded by George Soros, correct?"

Mr. Weissman: "The Open Society Foundation is one of our funders, yes."

Senator Schmitt: "And you call just about everything you don't like 'racist'."

Mr. Weissman: "That is not true."

Senator Schmitt: "Well, I'm going to give you a few examples here. On December 11, 2019, Public Citizen tweeted that the 'banking sector as a whole is racist'. On August 17, 2021, Public Citizen said in a press release that 'algorithmic racism was a major problem' and that 'we need to start creating anti-racist algorithms.' On December 23 2020, Public Citizen tweeted that our health care system is a 'racist abomination'. On April 7, 2023, Public Citizen tweeted that expelling two Tennessee state [representatives that] were violating the legislature's rule was 'racism'. On April 15, 2021, Public Citizen tweeted that law enforcement in this country has been 'overrun by racism'. On June 25, 2020, Public Citizen tweeted 'racism is the reason DC is not a state.' On January 15, 2019, Public Citizen tweeted that 'asking about citizenship status on the census was racist'. On August 24, 2020, Public Citizen tweeted, 'defund our racist, hyper-militarized, murderous American police force.' On July 10, 2020, Public Citizen tweeted that law and order is a 'racist dog whistle.' Do you stand by these statements?"

Mr. Weissman: "Well, I appreciate the depths of which you've gone of research and in the context of all those statements, yes, sir."

Senator Schmitt: "So all of those things are racist?"

Mr. Weissman: "If you want to go through them, we can."

Senator Schmitt: "I'm really glad. I'm glad for this moment of clarity. Because a lot of witnesses would try to sidestep that-"

Mr. Weissman: "That's correct."

Senator Schmitt: "- but what you have shown in the in the questioning we've seen before in just these examples: The public interest isn't your interest at all. It is not your interest at all. You use racism as an attempt to intimidate people to get your way. It's not 2020 anymore. The American people are over it. What you're going to find is we're going to prosecute - and that has nothing to do with race. We're going to prosecute because fraud was committed on a level that is so offensive to this country. Your words that don't mean anything, they aren't going to stop what's coming. And I want you to take that back to George Soros and all these ridiculous funders you have to try to muddle the issue. Because justice is coming. And by the way, if I have my way, we will denaturalize all these fraudsters and send them home. Thank you, Mr. Chairman."

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