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Club for Growth, an anti-tax group founded by billionaires, has been the main financier of Andy Harris, the Republican legislator who tried to bring a gun to the House of Representatives plenary.
Harris, a doctor who represents Maryland’s east coast, has received about $ 345,000 from individuals associated with Club for Growth since right-wing campaigners helped get him elected in 2010, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The latest revelation about the Growth Club’s support for Harris came after the Guardian revealed last week that the group, which is led by former Republican Congressman David McIntosh, was a major financial support from 42 Republicans who tried to invalidate the victory of Joseph Biden in the 2020 elections.
He also supported another lawmaker, Lauren Boebert, who defended the need for firearms to be transported within the U.S. Capitol. Members may only carry firearms in their own offices.
CNN reported on Friday that US Capitol police were investigating an incident that occurred on Thursday, when Harris was prevented from bringing a hidden weapon to the floor of the House. The Republican, who is an anesthesiologist, triggered the newly installed metal detectors outside the chamber, prompting him to ask another lawmaker, Republican John Katko, to hold the gun for him.
Katko refused, according to a press group, and Harris then left and returned later, without triggering the metal detector.
Bryan Shuy, Harris’ chief of staff, said in a statement released to the Guardian: “Since his life and that of his family were threatened by someone who was released and awaiting trial, for security reasons, the congressman never confirms whether he or anyone else more are carrying a firearm for self-defense. “
Shuy added: “For public record, he has a Maryland firearms license. And the deputy always complies with the House metal detectors and wand. The congressman never carried a firearm on the floor of the Chamber. “
The Growth Club did not respond to a request for comment.
The Growth Club became a significant supporter of Harris in 2007 when it helped defeat a former – and more moderate – Republican congressman who had served in Maryland’s first district. Harris lost that race in the general election, but won in 2009 in a heavily republican district.
In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said she feared for her life on the day of the Capitol insurrection, said that “many” members of the House still do not feel safe around other members.
“The moment you point a gun at the floor of the Chamber, violating the rules, you put everyone around you in danger. It is irresponsible, it is reckless, but in addition it is a violation of rules ”, he said.
She added that Harris’ actions, whatever his intentions, put the lives of other members of Congress at risk and were a violation of House rules.
The Growth Club recently received the vast majority of its funding from Richard Uihlein, the right-wing anti-choice billionaire founder of packaging supply company Uline, and from Jeffrey Yass, a billionaire co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, a trading company Philadelphia-based options company.
Last year, the group spent millions of dollars helping elect Lauren Boebert, a far-right pro-gun activist and conspiracy theorist QAnon, who this week would have challenged Capitol police officers who sought to check her purse after she detonated metal detectors. .
Harris voted on January 6 to overturn the results of the 2020 elections, hours after protesters invaded the U.S. Capitol. In a radio broadcast a few days later, he criticized Twitter’s decision to ban the president from using the online platform, calling it the result of collusion between socialists and large corporations.
In fact, some of the wealthiest Republican donors supported Harris, including billionaire Stephen Schwarzman and other executives at Blackstone, the Wall Street firm whose executives donated more than $ 10,000 to Harris in the last election cycle.