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GALLERY: In a tight courtroom, Sen. Grassley defends support of administration nominees

  • Sen. Chuck Grassley in the Floyd County Courthouse addressing residents from all over Iowa during a town hall meeting. Press photo By Thomas Nelson

  • Press photo by Chris Baldus

  • Tahmyrah Lytle from Mason City, asking U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley a question during a town hall meeting in the Floyd County Courthouse in Charles City. Press photo By Thomas Nelson

  • Press Photo By Thomas Nelson. Sen. Chuck Grassley answering questions from audience members during a town hall meeting in Charles City Feb. 23.

  • Press Photo by Thomas Nelson. After the meeting the hallway of the Courtroom was full of press and citizens talking about Sen. Chuck Grassley with many interviews going on simultaneously.

  • Press Photo By Thomas Nelson. Frank Salomon, of Iowa City, came to see Sen. Chuck Grassley, but was unable to make it inside the courtroom.

  • Signs were not allowed in the District Courtroom during U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley's townhall meeting Feb. 23, the room filled up 30 min. prior to the scheduled beginning. Press photo by Thomas Nelson

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

An hour before U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley stepped into the Floyd County Courthouse, sheriff deputies were working with a crowded gallery.

By the time Grassley opened the session five minutes early, media and citizens — both of Floyd County and from elsewhere — were elbow-to-elbow raising competing cell phones to capture video and photographs. Some activists passed out buttons or public letters. Protest signs were restricted to the hallway so views were not obstructed.

Grassley had no microphone to speak into as he walked up and down the courtroom aisle taking questions on issues like education, Cabinet nominees, health care and his legacy as a senator.

“Thank you for the real big turnout. I appreciate it very much,” he told the crowd.

Members of the crowd had arrived prepared to catch their senator’s attention, starting with the Trump administration’s ties to Russia.

A bi-partisan Senate subcommittee is asking for an investigation into Russian interference in both the U.S. and the current French election, Grassley told the crowd.

“They have already started an investigation, and that’s probably where it’s going to be centered, in those (House and Senate Intelligence) committees,” Grassley said, eliciting some applause.

Tahmyrah Lytle of Mason City received cheers and applause from the room after asking Grassley why he voted to approve Betsy DeVos, a controversial Trump nominee, to Secretary of Education.

Congressional members generally believe the president has a right to a Cabinet of his choice, Grassley said, adding he voted to approve former Attorney General Eric Holder even with personal concerns.

“But don’t you believe the team should be qualified?” Lytle asked.

“Well then we would not have (Rex) Tillerson being Secretary of State,” Grassley countered, to laughter from the crowd. “Sen. (John) Kerry never would have been Secretary of State. You’re looking for somebody who can do the job.”

In response to a question from Julie Meyers of Waverly, Grassley asserted his priority was listening to Iowans, then went on to acknowledge most correspondence from constituents had asked him to vote against Trump nominations.

“I wouldn’t have town meetings if your position wasn’t important,” Grassley said. “As of right now, I’m 19,000 emails behind, as an example.”

“In the case of specific issues like Betsy DeVos’s nomination, can you just tell us … did you have more pros or more cons?” Meyers asked, also listing the Jeff Sessions and Scott Pruitt hearings.

“More cons,” Grassley responded to each name. “I can make it easy for you, it eventually got to a point where people called up and said, ‘We’re against every one of Trump’s nominees.'”

In a tight hour, Grassley also defended his refusal to open Senate hearings for President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland; and answered concerns about the Dodd-Frank Act and Affordable health care.

Some attendees who couldn’t fit into the courtroom live-streamed the entire town hall through their phones, standing or sitting in the courthouse hallway.

Initially, the crowd was asked to remain behind the barriers of the working courtroom, but as attendees spilled out into the hallway, Sheriff Jeff Crooks and his deputies ushered people into the jury box and a row of fold-out chairs placed inside the barrier.

“This event probably should have been placed somewhere else,” Crooks acknowledged, adding, “This is a district courtroom, so we do have some rules inside a district courtroom, and I appreciate you helping us out there.”

At the end of the event, it would be a quick turn around for deputies: court proceedings for an adoption were scheduled to follow Grassley and his crowd. All the benches in the courtroom filled for that event too, but this time with many more children than adults.

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