The Hill reports:

A group of Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus called for a select committee to investigate the “the money, influence, and power behind the radical left’s assault on America and the rule of law” in the wake of the assassination of conservative powerhouse Charlie Kirk.

The group of 23 members, led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), articulated the request in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday, before Kirk’s suspected assassin was apprehended.

The letter concludes:

Enough is enough. We must follow the money to identify the perpetrators of the coordinated antiAmerican assaults being carried out against us and take all steps under the law necessary to stop them. The best option is a full, stand-alone committee with complete authority to elevate and investigate these matters. However, I respectfully request that we establish such a committee. It should be comprised of Members and staff with prosecutorial and/or law enforcement backgrounds, and we should grant it full subpoena powers and authority to deliver results.

We can no longer pretend to be bound together by shared ideals when a well-funded, vitriolic cadre of our fellow Americans and foreign interests are at war with the very values of faith in God, fidelity to our Constitution, and respect for the principles of liberty and Western Civilization that define us as Americans – including, notably, the free speech practiced and exemplified by Charlie Kirk.

Although he isn’t mentioned in the article, among the signers is Congressman Cline.

To anyone with a knowledge of American history, this letter smacks of the worst of McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee.

It singles out for blame– and investigation– the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Wren Collective and that longtime object of rightwing fear and loathing George Soros. None of them has ever advocated or condoned political violence.

The letter mentions as examples of a “sustained breakdown of law and order, fueled not by chance, but by anti-American ideology” the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump and the 2017 shooting of Republican lawmakers at baseball practice. It notably does not mention the murder of a Democratic legislator and her husband and the wounding of another legislator and his wife in Minnesota; the arson attempt at the residence of the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro; and the brutal attack on the husband of Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

Why is that, Congressman Cline?

In fact the Department of Justice reported that rightwing extremists were responsible for far more political murders in the US than those on the left. Or it did until the DoJ recently removed the report from its website.

Cline spoke on the House floor this week paying tribute to Charlie Kirk and “his commitment to free speech and open dialogue.”

How does the threatening letter signed by Cline– obviously meant to silence and intimidate– foster that?

On Tuesday September 9 at 10:27 am Senator Tim Kaine posted the following on his Facebook page:

(As you may recall, Congressman Cline voted FOR the bill that forced these closures and called it “a great victory for American families.”)

The same day at 1:05 pm Congressman Cline posted the following bit of nastiness on his Facebook page:

(Fortunately Cline is getting some brutal feedback in the Comments to his post.)

Is there a connection between the two posts? If so, does it matter?

On Thursday I phoned Congressman Cline’s Washington office (202-225-5431) and posed the following questions for him:

• Are you going to sign the bipartisan discharge petition to force a vote in the House to release the FULL Epstein files?

• Do you agree with the White House that signing the petition is a “very hostile act”?

On Friday I received the following email from Cline’s office:

Bottom line: Cline won’t dare sign the discharge petition for fear of retribution by Trump and his supporters.

According to Robert Garcia, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee:

“The 33,000 pages of Epstein documents [committee chair] James Comer has decided to ‘release’ were already mostly public information. To the American people – don’t let this fool you.

After careful review, Oversight Democrats have found that 97% of the documents received from the Department of Justice were already public. There is no mention of any client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims.

House Republicans are trying to make a spectacle of releasing already-public documents. Pam Bondi has said the client list was on her desk. She could release it right now if she wanted to. 

While Comer tries to give cover to Trump by re-releasing public documents, House Democrats are fighting for real transparency. Pam Bondi must comply with our subpoena immediately, and release all of the documents. The American people demand it.”

Congressman Thomas Massie, one of a handful of Republicans supporting the petition, made clear that the non-binding House Resolution 668 that Cline voted for wasn’t enough:

Republican leaders are hoping that document release and a vote on an alternative symbolic measure will head off Massie’s efforts to get his bill to the House floor.

“It doesn’t change a thing,” Massie told reporters. “It’s giving political cover for some people, but that’s fleeting, because eventually people are going to pore through those documents and find out there’s nothing new in there.”

On Wednesday a group of survivors of abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded with House members to vote to release the entire Epstein files– which requires a majority to sign the petition that Cline and most other House Republicans refuse to sign.

All of which raises the question: Why are Cline and other Congressional Republicans, as well as Donald Trump (who refers to the Epstein matter as a hoax), so desperate to prevent a vote to release the full records?

What are they trying to hide?

It was only two months ago that Congressman Cline was celebrating the Trump administration’s nomination of Republican Delegate Todd Gilbert as the next US Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.

On Facebook, Cline showered praise on his former colleague in the Virginia House of Delegates.

But things didn’t go smoothly for Gilbert, as Roanoke Times reported on August 23:

Gilbert, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, resigned on Wednesday. The former Republican state lawmaker did not publicly explain the reason for his unusual and unexpected departure, which came less than two months after he was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. He did not return calls and texts this week.

But according to a person with knowledge of what happened, Gilbert had a falling out with officials in the Trump administration over his second-in-command, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Lee.

Lee had been serving as acting U.S. attorney until Gilbert’s appointment, at which time he resumed his previous duties. Lee also was first assistant U.S. attorney under Chris Kavanaugh, the former U.S. attorney who was nominated by then-President Joe Biden.

Concerned about what they believed to be Lee’s connections to the former Democratic administration, Trump officials pushed Gilbert to replace him with someone more in step with their agenda, the source said.

When Gilbert resisted, Robert Tracci — a former Virginia assistant attorney general who had earlier been a contender for Gilbert’s job — was appointed by the Department of Justice to replace Lee. Tracci began work Aug. 4 as the office’s new first assistant U.S. attorney.

An irritated Gilbert then named Lee as senior counsel and executive assistant U.S. attorney, a new position that retained much of the authority of his old job.

Angered by his actions, administration officials gave Gilbert a choice: resign or be fired, according to the source, who asked not to be identified.

When Gilbert resigned, Tracci became acting U.S. attorney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which elevates the first assistant U.S. attorney to the position of acting head prosecutor when there’s a vacancy at the top.

Here’s what Gilbert posted at the time:

Now Gilbert has accepted a new position as an assistant Commonwealth’s attorney in Page County.

As for Gilbert, whose rightwing credentials as a delegate were impeccable, this is “a great example of MAGA eating its own,” as Chris Graham observed at The Augusta Free Press.

You’d think Ben Cline would be angry at the administration’s shabby treatment of his friend. If he is, he’s been remarkably quiet about. He hasn’t said a word publicly about the whole messy business. Cline hasn’t done much good as a member of Congress but he has excelled at avoiding even the mildest criticism of Trump while heaping sycophantic acclaim on him.

The Augusta Free Press reports:

The first local impact of the Trump/MAGA Big Ugly Bill is here, with Augusta Medical Group announcing Thursday the closure of three primary care facilities in the region.

The closures/consolidations will impact patients in Buena Vista, Churchville and Weyers Cave, all on the periphery of the Augusta Medical Group/Augusta Health service area.

…..

The press release announcing the news at the same time casts the closures as “part of Augusta Medical Group/Augusta Health’s ongoing response to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the resulting realities for healthcare delivery,” and also tries to soft-pedal the closures as a consolidation of services.

In August The Rockbridge Advocate reported:

Goshen Vice-Mayor Steve Binkley reported that the Rockbridge Area Health Center, citing anticipated Medicaid cuts, abandoned plans to open a branch in the town’s new Community Center.

Congressman Cline voted for this bill and called it “a great victory for American families.”