House Republicans vow to 'follow the money trail' during visit to GWU Palestine encampment

A group of House Republicans on Wednesday visited the George Washington University campus where students have established a pro-Palestine encampment and refused to leave and vowed to explore the sources of funding for the demonstrations that have swept college campuses nationwide.

Among the participants were GOP Reps. James Comer, Ky., Lauren Boebert, Colo., Byron Donalds, Fla., Anna Paulina Luna, Fla., and Eric Burlison, Mo. The lawmakers toured the encampment before delivering remarks.

"We're seeing these protests springing up all across the United States. We're hearing from Jewish students when they don't feel safe. We're hearing from university administrators that they don't feel like they are equipped to handle these types of protests," Comer said. "[A]nd they could serve-- they're obviously concerned on top of the size and nature to get out of hand."

"We have two roles on the Oversight Committee in these campus protests," he went on. "First of all, we have legislative jurisdiction over the city of Washington, D.C. We've already passed legislation this year that passed the House, passed the Senate and was signed into law by the President, that rescinded Washington, D.C.'S soft on crime policies."

"So we're going to have an emergency hearing Wednesday with the mayor and police chief of Washington, D.C., and, lastly, the last thing that we have jurisdiction over is in our role in these investigations that the House announced yesterday," Comer continued. "We want to follow the money trail to see if there are outside groups" funding the encampments.

House Republicans visit the pro-Palestine encampment at George Washington University today.

.@RepJamesComer vowed to “follow the money trail” and see if outside groups were funding these demonstrations. pic.twitter.com/7a2tJjqY2m

— Ben Whedon (@whedonwins) May 1, 2024

Donalds, for his part, highlighted that the university had asked the protesters to disperse.

"Everybody believes in peaceful protest, but this is trespassing. Now, GW has asked for help to have the incumbent removed because this is private property," he said. "And the mayor is weak in the face of homelessness, and she will not do her job of enforcing the law in Washington, D.C. So we're calling on the mayor to step up and support the president and the administration at George Washington. All students deserve to be protected."

"They deserve to have their voices heard, but you cannot take over a university campus for your own angle," he continued. "You wouldn't let your house be overtaken by a group of people... you would call the police to come in and get people out of your home. It is no different on private property. So Mayor Bowser needs to step up and actually leave from once in Washington, D.C., and support all the people of Washington, D.C., and all the students here at Georgia."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.