Far-right Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., on Wednesday focused on public urination during a House hearing on crime in Washington D.C.
Boebert asked whether a new criminal code approved by D.C. lawmakers was now law — and was quickly reminded that Congress had already overturned it earlier this month. She then moved on to a fixation on whether the code would have decriminalized public urination.
Charles Allen, a city councilman, was the chair of the D.C. judiciary committee considering revisions to the code. On Wednesday, Allen was brought in as a witness at the House's "Overdue Oversight of the Capital City" hearing.
He and D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson, along with chief financial officer Glen Lee and Greggory Pemberton of the D.C. Police Union, faced intense questioning from Republicans regarding policing and crime. However, Boebert diverted attention away from the issue at hand, as she kept asking inflammatory questions about public urination.
"You led the charge to reform DC's crime laws. Is that correct?" Boebert asked Allen, to which he said yes.
"You led the charge, yes sir," she confirmed. "And these changes are now law here in DC. Correct?"
"You mean the revised criminal code? No, those are not the law," Allen replied.
When Boebert appeared confused, Mendelson tried to remind her that the code was rejected, but she cut him off to further grill Allen.
"Did you or did you not decriminalize public urination in Washington D.C.? Did you lead the charge to do so?" she asked.
"No," Allen said. "The revised criminal code left that as a criminal."
"Did you lead the charge to decriminalize public urination in Washington D.C.?" Boebert continued to ask. Allen simply said "no, ma'am."
"Did you ever vote in favor of decriminalizing public urination in Washington D.C.?" she asked again, refusing to acknowledge the repeated fact-checks he provided.
"The revised criminal code that was passed by the council kept it as a criminal offense," Allen explained.
"Did you ever support this criminal offense status?" Boebert questioned. Allen said that he did vote for it.
"You voted to keep it as a criminal offense?" Boebert continued.
"That's correct," Allen replied. "The full council did."
The pro-Trump lawmaker then claimed to "have records" proving that Allen favored "allowing public urination".
When he tried to refute those claims, she cut him off, asking if that is "something you intend to pursue in the future?"
"No. The legislation you're referring to came from the criminal code reform commission that changed public urination from a criminal to a civil offense," Allen explained. "The council then changed that, to maintain it as a criminal offense at the request of the mayor."
Boebert then yielded her time.
If you aren't watching House Republicans' hearing on the District of Columbia you are missing sober consideration of weighty matters of state pic.twitter.com/MFq0u9zwfw
— Aaron Fritschner (@Fritschner) March 29, 2023
Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., criticized the back-and-forth instigated by Boebert.
"Rather than addressing a number of serious concerns our constituents have, [Republicans] are choosing to waste our time talking about public urination," she said. "Do you have anything additional you want to say about public urination?"
Boebert replied, "I do."
"No, not you," Balint said to Boebert. "It's not your time. It's a question to these people."
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking Democrat on the panel, slammed Boebert for her line of questioning.
"This has been a degraded, tawdry discourse today, with obsessive questioning about public urination," he said. "I hope the public doesn't see this hearing and regard all of it as an episode of public urination in which the people of Washington are the ones getting rained on."
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel in his nightly monologue on Wednesday mocked Boebert — whom he referred to as former President Donald Trump's "dumbest impersonator" — for grilling a D.C. council member "over what has to be one of the most important issues facing this fractured nation today."
"Whenever Lauren Boebert opens her mouth it should count as public urination and be a criminal offense," Kimmel joked. "I don't know what she's getting at, but it's an interesting line of questioning from someone whose husband did jail time for exposing himself to a teenager at a bowling alley."
"But with our children being shot at their schools, I have to say I thank God every day that we have people like Lauren Boebert representing the good people of Colorado," Kimmel said, before finishing the segment with a clip of her denouncing Tic Tacs after a hearing on TikTok.
