Nadler rips GOP reps over debunked story on homeless veterans

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday ripped his Republican colleagues for sharing a debunked story about homeless veterans being booted from hotel rooms to make space for migrants.

“Unfortunately, my colleagues are not ones to let facts get in the way of a good story,” Nadler said during a House Judiciary hearing about the U.S.-Mexico border, highlighting a false story that was featured by outlets including the New York Post and Fox News. “This was quickly echoed by the Speaker of the House and other congressional Republicans and even by one of our witnesses.”

Nadler then displayed a scroll of “tweet after tweet” from GOP lawmakers “amplifying this story to stoke fears about the order and to distract from their own failures to enact meaningful solutions.” 

The slideshow included screenshots of tweets from Reps. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Ben Cline (R-Va.), Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) and Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.).

A nonprofit CEO in New York’s Orange County had claimed that homeless veterans were thrown out of upstate hotels to make room for migrants being bused from New York City.

New York state lawmaker Brian Maher (R), who first set off the media frenzy over the story, said last week he was “devastated and disheartened” to learn it was fabricated.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Sunday that he would ask state officials to launch a probe to “determine if any criminality is involved.”

Nadler on Tuesday drew a connection between the story and the GOP’s ongoing focus on the southern border, even as the predicted post-Title 42 surge in migration has failed to materialize.

“So here we are again in another hearing about the quote, ‘Biden Border Crisis,’ close quote. I am sure that no matter what happens at the border, we will continue to have hearings on this topic. And we will continue to see partisan messaging bills that have no chance of ever becoming law,” Nadler said.