Republican Lawmaker Removed as Chair for Asking Witnesses to Take Oath

Attempts to reform New Hampshire’s troubled child protection agency have not gone well for one Republican lawmaker. Rep. Leah Cushman (R-Weare) was recently removed as chairman of the special committee to investigate the New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). She had invoked a state statute allowing—but not requiring—legislators to ask witnesses to consider taking an oath before giving testimony about the agency. The committee was formed to investigate the practices of the agency after it fell under intense blame in the recent, high-profile homicide case of five-year-old Harmony Montgomery. Her father Adam Montgomery was convicted in February of murdering his daughter back in 2019....