NRCC Refuses to Cease Accusations that Dems Back Hamas

The National Republican Congressional Committee has a message for Democrats crying foul over a campaign ad saying they support Hamas: Don’t vote like you support Hamas.

Lawyers for three freshmen House Democrats — Andrea Salinas of Oregon, Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, and Yadira Caraveo of Colorado — sent cease-and-desist letters to the NRCC after it published several press releases with the headline ‘quoting’ the representatives as saying, “I Support Hamas,” according to the Washington Examiner.

The representatives say they never uttered that phrase.

“NRCC knows that Representative Vasquez did not make this statement and does not even try to attribute it; this brazen action by NRCC will not go unnoticed,” lawyers for the representatives wrote. “We demand that you remove these false and defamatory statements and issue a correction immediately. If you do not comply, we are prepared to pursue all available legal actions.”

The press release from the NRCC in question has a headline of “I support Hamas” followed by the name of the member, with a line in the body text that said, “Nothing says ‘I support Hamas’ like withholding help from Israel,” the Examiner reported.

The NRCC said the releases were tongue-in-cheek and that Democrats should support Israel.

“Rep. Caraveo argues that the quote is directly attributable to her; despite the fact that the press release goes on to clarify that the title is not a direct quote, but rather a commentary on her recent vote on H.R. 3639 – Israel Support Assistance Act,” NRCC general counsel Erin Clark wrote in a letter Monday to Andrew Harris Werbrock, Caraveo’s lawyer, obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Clark said Caraveo’s voting record shows she either supports Hamas or is unwilling to stand up to terrorist organizations and their sympathizers, the Examiner reported.

“Given her voting record, I find it surprising that Rep. Caraveo would rather use her time and resources to have her attorney write to the NRCC about their use of quotation marks in a press release than explain her voting record to her constituents,” Clark said.

Clark said the quotation marks were used ironically but the record speaks for itself.

The three Democrats voted against condemning Joe Biden for threatening to pause weapons transfers to Israel if it invaded Rafah and voted against an Israel foreign aid package, the Examiner reported. Salinas and Vasquez voted present on a resolution condemning antisemitism.

The press release’s “sole purpose is to subject Representative Caraveo to contempt and ridicule and to injure her reputation and it is plainly false,” Werbrock wrote, according to the Examiner. “Further, NRCC knows that Representative Caraveo never made this statement, meaning that NRCC has acted with actual malice.”

“Instead of supporting Israel and rejecting antisemitism and Hamas, extreme House Democrats try to send their lawyer goons after the NRCC to silence us,” NRCC national press secretary Will Reinert retorted to the Examiner. “It won’t work. These are the facts – Democrats enabled Joe Biden’s shameful strangulation of munitions to Israel, harming our ally’s ability to defend themselves from Hamas’ plan to eradicate the Jewish people.”