GOP lawmaker pays singer, but staffer’s records show money went to antisemite

Member of staff for Louis Gohmert apparently makes mistake on Federal Election Commission filing to say cash went to extremist preacher

By Ron Kampeas 17 June 2021, 9:31 am

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Rep. Louie Gohmert speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 24, 2020 (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

JTA — Louis Gohmert, the Texas congressman on the GOP’s far right, said he wanted to pay Steve Amerson, who sings gospel.

Instead, federal documents show, the money went to Steve Anderson, who spews antisemitism.

A staffer botched an internet search in making the filing to the Federal Election Commission, Gohmert’s chief of staff told The Daily Beast this week.

Connie Hair said the $5,500 that Gohmert’s campaign paid indeed went to Amerson, a California-based Christian singer, for performing at a fundraiser in December.

But a staffer entered the amount on the FEC forms as going to Steve Anderson, the pastor who helms the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. Hair said the staffer is amending the form.

The Daily Beast listed a number of statements in which Anderson celebrated the deaths of gay people, and sermons with titles like “The Jews Are Our Enemies,” “The Jews Killed Jesus” and “Jewish Synagogue = Synagogue of Satan.”