Paul Gosar

Paul Gosar was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Arizona's 1st congressional district in the 2010 elections. Gosar, a Republican and a dentist by profession, won his seat by defeating Democratic incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick. His victory was one of the Republican gains in the House during that midterm election, which saw a significant shift in control in favor of Republicans.

In June 2016, Paul Gosar was one of the lawmakers who filed a lawsuit challenging an Obama-era gun regulation. The regulation sought to expand background checks and prohibit certain people with mental health conditions from owning guns. Gosar argued that the rule unfairly infringed upon Second Amendment rights. The lawsuit was part of broader Republican opposition to Obama-era gun control policies.

Rep. Paul Gosar stirred controversy in January 2018 when he called for the arrest of undocumented immigrants attending the State of the Union address. He requested that Capitol Police check the ID of all individuals entering the State of the Union and arrest any that were undocumented. This request was part of broader debates over immigration policy at the time, and was criticized by others as inflammatory and impractical.

Gosar was involved in a call for investigations into the Clinton Foundation and the Uranium One transaction in 2018. He accused the FBI officials involved in the Russia probe of bias and alleged that they had ignored wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton. The accusations were part of a broader narrative pushed by some Republicans that the 2016 election investigations were biased against Trump.

In a striking political move, six siblings of Congressman Paul Gosar appeared in an ad supporting his Democratic opponent, David Brill, in the 2018 midterm elections. The siblings, critical of Gosar's policies and statements, publicly stated their reasons for endorsing Brill, deepening the rift within the family. This situation attracted national attention due to its unusual nature in politics.

After the release of the redacted version of the Mueller Report on April 18, 2019, Rep. Paul Gosar criticized the findings and what he perceived as a biased investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Gosar stated that the investigation was a 'witch hunt' against President Donald Trump, reflecting his alignment with Trump's claims about the investigation's legitimacy.

On January 6, 2021, during the congressional certification of the 2020 Presidential election results, Paul Gosar was one of the lawmakers who objected to the electoral college results from Arizona. Gosar's objection was part of the broader effort by some Republican members of Congress to challenge the election outcome, which was won by Joe Biden. This event coincided with the storming of the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.

Paul Gosar announced his formal entry into the House Freedom Caucus on February 26, 2021. The House Freedom Caucus is a group of conservative Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. Known for its hard-right policies and influential role in shaping Republican policy and legislation, the group's membership indicates Gosar's political alignment with more conservative policies and viewpoints.

On November 17, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to censure Representative Paul Gosar and strip him of his committee assignments. This action came after Gosar posted an edited anime video on social media that depicted violence against Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden. The video was widely condemned as inappropriate and a threat of violence against colleagues.

Rep. Paul Gosar was one of the keynote speakers at the America First Political Action Conference held in July 2022, organized by controversial far-right activist Nick Fuentes. The conference was criticized for its association with white nationalist rhetoric and extremist views. Gosar's participation drew significant criticism and renewed scrutiny of his affiliations with extremist groups.