Rep. Quang Nguyen is unfit to lead this crucial legislative committee

Arizona cannot move beyond the partisan extremism of the past eight years if the Republican Party continues to place extremists into positions of power in our state.

Voters’ rejection of hardline extremists for Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat, governor, secretary of state and attorney general should have made this clear.

However, House Speaker-elect Ben Toma is clearly not listening.

His appointment of Rep. Quang Nguyen of Prescott, an admitted member of the antigovernment group the Oath Keepers, as chair of the House Judiciary Committee sends a dangerous message of support to the extremists in his party and is a direct insult to the rule of law.

Nguyen is a member of the Oath Keepers

I have been a licensed attorney in Arizona for more than 27 years. I have represented the people of Arizona as both a prosecutor and a state representative.

In the latter role, I have served on the House Judiciary Committee with both Rep. Toma and Rep. Nguyen and came to know them both well, which is why Rep. Toma’s decision is so concerning.

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The Judiciary Committee is responsible for vetting most, if not all of the proposed bills impacting the fair administration of justice in our state. This can include such important topics as new criminal statutes, victims’ rights, individual rights, criminal sentencing and policing, just to name a few.

All these areas are complex and very important to the everyday lives of every Arizona resident. Members of this committee must be able to assess the bills under consideration with an open mind, common sense and, above all, with respect for the rule of law.

Simply put, Nguyen’s membership in the Oath Keepers should disqualify him as a member of all House committees. However, placing him in charge of the Judiciary Committee is a grave insult to our democracy and the rule of law.

He is not violent, but the organization is

The failed attempt to violently overthrow the U.S. government and reinstall a legitimately defeated president on Jan. 6, 2021, showed our nation exactly who the Oath Keepers are. The founder of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, was recently convicted of seditious conspiracy by a federal jury. The conviction stemmed from Rhodes’ plot to use force to block the presidential transfer from Trump to Joe Biden, and the coordinated efforts of his fellow gang members to carry out the plan.

I don't use the word gang lightly.

Rep. Nguyen is quiet and mild-mannered, and will claim no part in the Jan. 6 violence. But his organization cannot. Would we accept an unapologetic member of the Hells Angels in the same role, even if they swear they are just a motorcycle enthusiast? We would not, because we are not fools. We know membership requires allegiance to a violent, outlaw ethos.

How can we as a state move forward from the toxic ideology that has infected our politics with false elections claims, threats against our elected officials in charge of elections, wasteful audits of fair and secure elections and attacks on our democracy when the very people pushing this toxicity are put into positions of power in our Legislature?

Thankfully, the people of Arizona rejected the extremist candidates for governor, attorney general and secretary of state. But the dangerous anti-American militia ideology that led to the attack our nation’s capital is still making policy in the halls of our state government.

That is a threat to us all.

Diego Rodriguez, a former Arizona lawmaker in Legislative District 27, is co-founder of Institute for Equity and Justice. Reach him at Rodriguez@InstituteEquityandJustice.org.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rep. Quang Nguyen is unfit to lead this key House panel