Goldman raises alarm over Laura Loomer’s influence after NSA firings

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) raised the alarm about Laura Loomer’s influence in the Trump administration following reported firings at the National Security Agency (NSA).

Goldman questioned Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, about why Loomer, a staunch ally of President Trump, was able to be “effectively making decisions about who oversees” the country’s most “sensitive collection agency.”

The Democrat’s questioning came during a House Judiciary Committee hearing and followed the news that Loomer, a far-right political activist, met with Trump in the White House and brought a list of national security officials who she said couldn’t be trusted.

There was a purge of several officials both in the NSA and the White House’s National Security Council.

Trump called Loomer a “great patriot” but downplayed her final say in the firings, though her involvement in the process was criticized and questioned.

Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.), a moderate Republican, criticized Trump’s decision to fire NSA director Gen. Timothy Haugh and argued that China and Russia are “laughing at us.”

During the Tuesday hearing, Goldman criticized Loomer’s influence over Haugh’s firing.

“This is the same Laura Loomer who says 9/11 was an inside job, who has openly advocated at a white nationalist conference that she is a white advocate, who said during the campaign that if Kamala Harris, who is half Indian that ‘the White House would smell like curry, and White House speeches will be facilitated by a call center,’" Goldman said.

“Who has said that numerous mass shootings are all hoaxes and conspiracies, who calls herself a proud Islamophobe and perpetuated conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants in Ohio,” he continued. “And yet, she is given access to the president of the United States to make a national security recommendation.”