A spectator shouts as Rep. Jason Chaffetz speaks during a town hall meeting at Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights, Utah on Feb. 9. | AP Photo Chaffetz booed at rowdy town hall

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the GOP chairman of the House oversight committee, faced sharp questions and fierce pushback Thursday night from hundreds of constituents who packed a town hall meeting in his Utah district.

In a high school auditorium crowded with protesters, with hundreds of others reportedly denied entry to the jammed room, Chaffetz struggled at times to justify his lack of interest in probing President Donald Trump's potential conflicts of interest, Trump's controversial restrictions on immigration from seven majority-Muslim nations, and other White House decisions.


Chaffetz attempted to calm the frustrated locals at his meeting by citing his Thursday alliance with the oversight panel's top Democrat, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, on a request for the Office of Government Ethics to review "potential disciplinary action" against Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway.

But Chaffetz added, to clamorous boos from his constituents, that he would not pursue other avenues of investigation into Trump's potential personal gain from his office "until there's evidence he’s somehow used that to ingratiate his family."

“You’re not going to like this part: the president, under the law, is exempt from conflict of interest laws,” Chaffetz told the loudly protesting crowd.

He sought to assure protesters by touting planned legislation that would require future presidential candidates to disclose their medical histories, a bill he said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is interested in partnering on. Chaffetz did not commit to a timetable for releasing that bill, however.

Acknowledging public concerns over Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Chaffetz noted to his constituents that the House does not have any say in the Senate confirmation of Cabinet nominees. He later drew vocal boos with a quip: “You’re going to like the bill I introduced to abolish the Department of Education."

Towards the end of the rowdy town hall, the tone of the meeting grew slightly less tense as Chaffetz repeatedly sought to assure attendees that he wanted to listen.

"We're yelling past each other," Chaffetz told another member of the audience concerned about the DeVos confirmation. "I understand that you don't agree with me, but we've got to be able to talk."