Grassley hears earful on Trump at town hall meeting

CHARLES CITY - U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley heard northern Iowans express disgust and distrust in government and with President Donald Trump during a Thursday morning town hall meeting at the Floyd County Courthouse.

A crowd of about 125 squeezed into a third-floor courtroom to question Grassley about Obamacare, the Supreme Court, Trump's Cabinet picks, his credibility and his stability.

Becky Higgins of Nora Springs shouted to those gathered, 'How many of you are upset that politicians aren't working for working people?,” a question that drew supportive cheers.

She told Grassley 'big money is the name of the game” and that 'rural America is mad that you aren't listening to us.”

Tahmyrah Lytle, a North Iowa Area Community College student from Mason City, asked Grassley to defend his vote confirming Betsy DeVos as secretary of education, who Lytle thinks is unqualified for the post.

Grassley said he thought a new president was entitled to have his own team in place to help him carry out his policies. He said he voted for President Barack Obama's nominees for the same reason.

'Even if they're unqualified?” Lytle responded.

Several questioners asked if Grassley favored investigations into Trump's ties with Russia.

Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said three investigations are underway or are planned - one by the Justice Department and the FBI, which he and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the committee, will be briefed on next week; another by a Senate subcommittee looking into Russia's possible involvement in U.S. and other elections; and a probe started by a bipartisan House and Senate Intelligence Committee regarding Trump and his staff's involvement with Russia.

Grassley said he supports all three investigations.

Many of the questions Grassley fielded centered on health care.

Grassley said he felt certain that when the Republican-controlled Congress revamps the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, that key provisions will remain, including coverage for pre-existing conditions; coverage for young adults on their parents' insurance up to age 26; and no lifetime cap on benefits.

When questioned about Trump, Grassley said he does not believe, as Trump has stated, that the press is 'the enemy of the American people.” But, he said, a recent survey showed 93 percent of the Washington press corps voted Democratic 'so there is obvious bias.”

'It's just common sense as to why freedom of the press is in the First Amendment,” he said. 'It's there because it's a guarantee for responsible government.”

When someone asked Grassley to 'repudiate Trump's lies,” and another asked him to exert his leadership to urge the president to be more truthful, Grassley replied, 'I don't know him. I've met him a couple of times. People who do know him say, ‘Donald Trump is going to be Donald Trump.' ”

A woman asked what Grassley hoped his legacy would be after this - his last term.

Grassley, who is 83, smiled and said, 'What makes you think this is my last term?” Then he added, 'I don't care about legacy. History will take care of that.”

At one point, when a woman said she was embarrassed to be an American, many in the room booed. Grassley cautioned everyone to be 'Iowa nice.”