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Lauren Boebert Obsesses Over Public Urination at Crime Hearing

boebert-and-public-urination.jpg House Oversight - Credit: Cliff Owen/AP
boebert-and-public-urination.jpg House Oversight - Credit: Cliff Owen/AP

Lauren Boebert waylaid a congressional hearing on crime in the nation’s capital on Wednesday by repeatedly grilling D.C. City Council Member Charles Allen on what she insisted were efforts to decriminalize public urination.

“Did you or did you not decriminalize public urination in Washington D.C.,” Boebert asked.

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“No we did not,” replied Allen.

“Did you lead the charge to do so?” Boebert rephrased.

“No, the revised criminal code left that as a criminal charge,” Allen answered.

The exchange continued for some time, with Boebert asking different variations of “Do you support peeing in public?”and Allen attempting to clarify that taking a piss on the sidewalk remains illegal in D.C.

“The legislation that you are referring to, that came from the criminal code reform commission, changed public urination from a criminal to a civil offense. The council then changed that [back] to maintain it a criminal offense, at the request of the mayor,” Allen explained when able to get a word in.

Other members of the House Oversight Committee were clearly pissed off over the line of questioning. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) chided her Republican colleagues. “They’re choosing to waste our time by meddling in the District of Columbia and talking about public urination over and over,” she said.

Balint asked Allen if he had any additional thoughts to add on the question of public urination, only for Boebert to interject with an “I do!”

“No, not you,” Balint cut her off.

Boebert has personal experience with crime related to indecent exposure. In 2004, her husband, Jason Boebert, pleaded guilty and served jail time after exposing himself to two women at a bowling alley, one of whom was underage.

Before becoming a sideshow on outdoor bathroom breaks, the hearing was intended to be a discussion on what Republicans contend is a catastrophic crime wave afflicting the nation’s capital. Earlier this month, Congress overturned a proposed reform of the D.C. criminal code passed by the city council, overriding the power of D.C.’s elected officials. The residents of D.C. do not have representation in Congress, and therefore were excluded from the decision.

Republicans’ concern regarding rising crime in D.C. was seen as hypocritical by some members of the Oversight Committee. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said he wished he “had seen equal passion on behalf of public safety in D.C. on Jan. 6, when 150 of our officers were violently assaulted by a mob that he came to describe as engaging in a ‘normal tourist visit.'”

Last week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who sits on the committee, was accused of treating Jan. 6 defendants like “celebrities” during a visit to the D.C. jail.

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