WASHINGTON, DC - Outgoing Iowa Congressman Steve King wants an investigation into the reason he was dismissed from his committee assignments.
King was stripped of his assignments after a news article in which he was interpreted to wonder why the terms "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" were offensive.
He was quoted in a New York Times article in 2019 as saying, "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization - how did that language become offensive?"
King claims his comments were taken out of context. He also says his "opponents" who lost to him in the 2018 election engineered the New York Times article that slandered him.
King says Republican House leadership manufactured distortions and lies about him, and is asking the chamber's Ethics Committee to investigate those actions.
King has sent a letter to the committee, which also asks for an investigation into the matter by the Justice Department.
King served as the Congressman in Iowa's 4th District for 18 years. He lost the Republican primary this year to Congressman-elect Randy Feenstra, who will take King's place in January.