Issa Calls for Judiciary Hearing on Hate Groups

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California has called on the House Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on the impact of white supremacists groups on civil rights.

That comes in the wake of the Charlottesville violence and the President Donald Trump's efforts to suggest their was fault and good folks on both sides of the protests, those marching with white supremacists and neo-Nazis and protestors opposed to their hateful ideology, saying there was "blame on both sides."

On Thursday, more and more Republicans began calling out the President, including FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly, and former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who said the President had not demonstrated the stability and competence he needs.

Related: Writers Guild: Trump Disgraces Nation

In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Issa said:

"As you and our colleagues are well aware, this weekend a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia was attended by hundreds of self-identified members of the KKK, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other repulsive hate groups. The despicable display of bigotry and evil resulted in an unconscionable attack that resulted in the death of Heather Heyer and the wounding of 20 others assembled in counter protest. As the nation grieves and heals from the scenes of this past weekend, we have a duty to more fully understand what led to these terrible events and the persistence of these hateful, extremist ideologies.

"While Congress cannot legislate respect, decency, or acceptance of others," he told Goodlatte, "we have an obligation to use our platform to lead our country forward on these matters. Thank you for your time and I look forward to working with you further on these critical issues."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.