This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Down the street and around the nation, it's all Jason Chaffetz, all the time:

Chaffetz's arrogance and partisanship are no help — Jennifer Rubin | The Washington Post

"WASHINGTON • Before national security adviser Michael Flynn's forced resignation Monday night, all Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. Chaffetz has been dismissive of calls to investigate the administration on a variety of fronts, including President Donald Trump's conflicts of interest, his apparent violations of the Constitution's emoluments clause and the purported breach of contract with the General Services Administration involving Trump's D.C. hotel, which Chaffetz dubs merely "curious." The immediate subject of this letter was Flynn, but the letter can be seen as documentation of Chaffetz's abject dereliction of his duty as chairman of a committee whose job it is to examine executive branch malfeasance. ..."

" ... The chairman of the powerful panel — the main investigative committee in the House — sent a letter to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demanding to know why, in an attempt to raise awareness of the Zika virus, "CDC appears poised to make a sole source award to the Jim Henson Company for $806,000 to feature Sid the Science Kid in an educational program about the virus."

"Scandalous!

"Sid, for readers not familiar with PBS children's programming, is a preschool cartoon character. Like President Trump, Sid is orange. Unlike Trump, he is highly inquisitive. ..."

"Washington • Against an outcry of residents and locally elected officials of the nation's capital, a House committee, led by Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, began the first steps to overturn a District of Columbia law to legalize assisted suicide. ..."

Chaffetz's unsubstantiated claim of out-of-state professional agitators fuels more anger — Thomas Burr and Courtney Tanner | The Salt Lake Tribune

"Washington • Some Utahns, outraged at Rep. Jason Chaffetz's unsubstantiated claim that paid protesters infiltrated his raucous town-hall meeting last week, have begun to send invoices to the congressman. If he says they got money for showing up, he should foot the bill, they argue.

"Shauna Ehninger's invoice sent to Chaffetz's office totaled $1,070, including $200 for two hours each of waiting in line and attending the town hall — including time for hearing 'condescending responses' — $100 for distributing 'fake news' and $100 for being an 'out-of-state radical.' Oh, and $70 for taxes. ..."

"Several commentaries have suggested that the hostile crowd at Rep. Jason Chaffetz's town hall meeting last week defeated its own purpose and made Chaffetz a martyr by chanting slogans and interrupting his answers to questions.

"That may be true, although Chaffetz did get a taste of his own medicine, given the way he has treated witnesses testifying before his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

"I would argue that the crowd was acting out of frustration since the positions attendees voiced at the meeting have been ignored or rebuffed by Utah's all-Republican congressional delegation and the state Legislature for years. ..."

" ... Picking through the wreckage of the town hall, however, it's hard to see what was accomplished and how anyone benefited but Chaffetz.

"Was the congressman chastened or swayed in the slightest? It sure doesn't sound like it. ..."

Chaffetz seems very different in Utah than in Washington — George Pyle | The Salt Lake Tribune " ... Chaffetz had a really rough night at a town meeting Thursday, loudly taken to task for his links to the new administration and the things he said in Washington. If he wants, he might work his way back into his constituents' good graces by staying home. Not giving up his seat, but staying home, and debating, convening, overseeing and voting via Skype. He, and we, would all be better off."

" ... their opponents aren't going to make progress, either, if they can't get past the shouting. These are indeed unique times, but if negotiating with the other side is viewed as legitimizing evil, our political stalemate will not end soon.

"We need to find the common ground and build on it. Staying in our own cliques is just so high school."

Jason Chaffetz's town hall was exactly what we didn't need — Ogden Standard-Examiner Editorial

" ... Chaffetz's opponents erred Thursday night by shouting him down, which encouraged the congressman to leave 40 minutes early. They should've forced Chaffetz to defend his views, on the record, for the entire two hours he originally planned.

"And even if some of the crowd did come from outside the 3rd Congressional District, Chaffetz still had an obligation to answer their questions; they're Americans — his position as oversight chairman affects us all, no matter where we live.

"Now more than ever, we need facts. We need clarity. We need honest debate. We got none of that Thursday.

"Chaffetz's opponents bear some of the blame. But Chaffetz does, too."

Chaffetz town hall was no meeting of the minds — Provo Daily Herald Editorial

"Donald Trump has been referred to as the 'reality TV president' because of his stint hosting 'The Apprentice.' We can safely say that Thursday's town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Alpine, was a 'reality TV event' — a low-calorie affair that featured a lot of frenzied shouting, cheers and jeers that accomplished little of substance and can be easily dismissed by those not invested in the matter. On the scale of reality shows, it was less 'Bachelor' rose ceremony and more 'Bad Girls Club' brawl.

Oooops. Update:

Dems blast Chaffetz for declining to investigate Flynn — Christina Marcos | The Hill

" ... In a letter to Chaffetz, the committee's Democrats called on him to reconsider his decision to pass on probing whether Flynn had inappropriate contact with Russia. The request comes in the midst of reports that Flynn discussed sanctions imposed by President Obama with Russia's U.S. ambassador during the transition and then allegedly misled Vice President Pence about the conversations. ..."

" ... After Chaffetz was such an aggressive watchdog of Obama, and after he looked poised to attack Clinton at every turn, Chaffetz's hands-off approach to Trump is smelling like hypocrisy. But that's not how Chaffetz sees it.

" 'He's days into his presidency,' Chaffetz told HuffPost. 'I laid out an oversight plan that will lead to lots of investigations.'..."

"The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee wants you to know that everything is hunky-dory now that Mike Flynn has resigned. Crisis over. Moving on. He's not going to spend any of his committee's time figuring out what's going on with the Russian mole in the Trump regime. ..."