Washington state Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, the House Majority Leader, admitted he drank alcohol before participating in a key budget debate in Olympia, according to a report highlighted by commentator Brandi Kruse.
“So Democrat in Olympia admitted that the he was debating the budget drunk last night, insane,” Kruse said. “And I saw this video.”
Kruse said she began receiving messages late in the evening about Fitzgibbon’s conduct during an appropriations hearing.
“So we’re talking about state rep Joe Fitzgibbon. I got a flurry of text messages last night, like around 10:30pm with people saying, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Are you watching appropriations? Oh my gosh,” she said.
Kruse said multiple individuals reached out about what they were observing.
“Multiple people, both staffers and other lawmakers were saying Joe Fitzgibbon appears to be drunk while talking about the state budget at a time when they’re trying to make this massive decision, something he is driving to pass an income tax,” she said.
After reviewing the footage, Kruse offered her reaction.
“And so I saw the video, and I thought to myself, yeah, he looks, and he sounds hammered,” she said.
During the hearing, Fitzgibbon said, “And making sure that that that the operating budget that we’ve put forward does not forget that the people that we are working to represent, the people that we are working to lift up and support, don’t always have a voice in this process, and their voice is carried forward by the members of this body.”
Kruse said she and a colleague discussed how to proceed.
“So this morning, I got in and Nicole and I were having a conversation about, how do we go about giving him an opportunity, you know, to respond to these allegations that he was debating the budget drunk,” she said.
“I said, Well, you know, reach out to him for comment,” Kruse added, noting she also considered contacting the state representative seated next to Fitzgibbon.
“I also was going to have a reach out to comment to the state rep who was sitting next to him, like if he was drunk, this guy surely, Guy surely smelled it on his breath,” she said.
Kruse said confirmation came shortly before her program went live.
“And then our friend Jason Rance, with 770 at Seattle red published minutes ago, a blockbuster report saying that the House Majority Leader has admitted that he was drunk during the budget hearing last night. Absolutely insane,” she said.
According to Kruse, Fitzgibbon provided a statement to Jason Rantz.
“I made a poor choice last night by drinking alcohol before we finished our work for the day. I am disappointed in myself and take responsibility for that poor choice. It won’t happen again, and I’m committed to completing my work this session without alcohol,” Fitzgibbon said in the statement.
Kruse reacted to the admission.
“Yeah, one would hope and look, you know, I don’t know if he has issues with alcohol or something, but it’s not like this. Hearing on the budget was a surprise,” she said.
She added that further questions remain.
“So we certainly are going to try to get more information on where was he drinking. When was he drinking? Was there any driving involved? Was there any sort of work that was being done at the time?” Kruse said.
She credited Rantz for confirming the story and said she was glad Fitzgibbon acknowledged the incident.
“But credit to Jason Rantz for getting and you know what? I’m glad Joe Fitzgibbon admitted it. I’m glad he didn’t make all of us go about trying to track down and prove that he had been drinking alcohol when it was very, very clear from the video that he in fact, had been drinking,” she said.
Kruse concluded by noting the timing of the incident.
“So again, during a critical budget hearing, at a time when they’re trying to pass an unconstitutional income tax on all of you. House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, who’s been driving that conversation, admits that he was drunk during the budget hearing last night on this matter, so we’ll certainly have more reaction to all of that,” she said.
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