A town hall meeting hosted by controversial Indiana Republican Victoria Spartz descended into chaos after the congresswoman gave apparently unsatisfactory answers to several questions from constituents.
The room erupted with boos and chants on Friday after Spartz said she would not be calling for the resignation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other members of the so-called Signalgate group chat.
“Would you demand the immediate resignation of Pete Hegseth, Michael Waltz and the rest of the group chat?” one woman asked, prompting cheers and chants of “lock him up” from others in the room.
“No I will not demand their resignations,” Spartz replied, sparking an angry response. “And actually all of the resignations go through the Senate anyway so you should talk to the Senators, maybe they’ll have town halls.”
Spartz, who was born in Ukraine but emigrated to the United States in 2000 at the age of 22, later referred to the incident, in which classified information about U.S. military operations in Yemen was discussed on Signal, a commercial messaging service, and also inadvertently shared with a journalist from The Atlantic, as an “innocent mistake” – prompting more vocal responses.
Elsewhere at the town hall, attendees confronted Spartz about the Trump administration’s actions and her past vote against aid for Ukraine. “I just wonder why that you don’t want to support your own people?” one attendee said, per CNN.
“My number one job as an American congresswoman is to protect interests, American interests, and make sure that your money, when we give it to any foreign power is —” Spartz began to reply before being cut off by the crowd.
The congresswoman has been an advocate for U.S. support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, but has been critical of the Kyiv government – as well as prime minister Volodymyr Zelensky. Last year she also voted against $61 billion in aid for Ukraine.
Throughout the rest of the event Spartz was interrupted by loud shouting, as well as some constituents who walked out of the event – encouraging others to follow suit.
Saturday’s town hall followed an equally raucous event on Friday. That crowd became enraged after Spartz told them: “If you violated the law, you are not entitled to due process.”
Writing on X following the event, the congresswoman wrote: “I don’t think radical left has learned yet that shouting and screaming is not going to work – no one is going to be intimidated.
“I still appreciate everyone who came to my town halls this week & hope at least some on the left were able to hear common sense policies we are trying to implement benefiting all Americans.”
Spartz has been a controversial figure for some time. Last year she faced an investigation by the House ethics committee over alleged “abuse” of staffers.
The allegations were first reported by Politico, which cited multiple complaints over the congresswoman’s “general toxicity” and “rage.” Staffers claimed Spartz asked one to die for her and said she would constantly berate her staff calling them “r******” and “children” resulting in multiple resignations from her office.
