Rep. Abramson refuses to meet with Speaker Jasper ‘for reasons that would be impolite to repeat’
State Rep. Max Abramson, who was removed from the House criminal justice committee after the GOP leadership learned of his 2012 felony conviction, has written an open letter to Speaker Shawn Jasper requesting a new committee assignment but refusing Jasper’s request for a one-on-one meeting saying he fears it would be a “trap.”
After challenging Jasper on the House floor last week, Abramson posted the letter on Facebook. In it, the Seabrook Republican complained that he is “forced to guess at the reason why a Republican speaker refuses to seat an elected Republican to a committee” but suggested “this is nothing more than part of the party infighting or your decision to make life difficult for conservatives.”
Then Abramson explained why he refuses to meet with the Speaker to discuss his situation:
I have been warned by many other legislators not to go into a room with you alone for reasons that would be impolite to repeat. The requirement that I come into the Speaker’s Office to speak one on one with you is too great a risk on my part and serves no other apparent purpose. To the contrary, it gives further impression that this is some form of a trap to further retaliate against platform Republicans, adding credence to the idea that this meeting is only to give you the opportunity to invent false statements or threats of some sort. The fact that your appointed majority leadership continues to side with minority leadership against proposed legislation offered by many elected Republicans only casts more doubt on the whole process.
Jasper removed Abramson from criminal justice after the committee chairman and vice-chairman requested it. “I felt then, as I do now,” wrote Chairman John Tholl, “that a member of the Criminal Justice Committee should be free from convictions or other actions that would diminish the moral and ethical position of the committee.”
Abramson, who moved to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project, was found guilty in 2012 of recklessly firing a gun during a party at his home. In 2013, the state Supreme Court rejected his appeal.