Who Is Joseph Crowley? Donald Trump 'Cashed In' From 9/11, Congressman Claims At DNC

Congressman Joseph Crowley, a representative in the Queens borough of New York City, did not mince words when discussing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Trump, a prominent New York City billionaire, didn't lend a hand after the twin towers fell, Crowley said Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

"Where was Trump in the days and the months and the years after 9/11?" said Crowley, a supporter of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, via the New York Observer. "He didn’t stand on the pile. He didn’t lobby Congress for help. He didn’t fight for our first responders. Nope — he cashed in."

Clinton was a senator representing New York at the time. She fought for funding for "local mom and pop shops" said Crowley, who lost a firefighter cousin in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Crowley said Trump, a real estate magnate, went after that funding.

"It was one of our nation’s darkest days, but to Trump, it was just another chance to make a quick buck," Crowley said to a booing crowd, via the Observer.

Trump did receive $150,000 in funding for a property at 40 Wall Street, less than a mile from where the World Trade Center towers stood, a Politifact investigation into Crowley's claim found. The fact-checking site deemed Crowley's claims "half-true" because Trump did take funding, but his firm also met the technical requirements to receive funding.

But Trump's push for the money wasn't without controversy. Rep. Jerrold Nadler of Manhattan wrote an angry open letter about how Trump's business — with more than $26 million in revenue — received small business funds, which by federal definition have less than $6 million in revenue. Trump responded that his business at 40 Wall Street had few employees.

Crowley, 54, has served in Congress since 1998 representing New York City. His speech Tuesday, called "moving" by local news site AM New York, was the first of three that discussed Clinton's response to 9/11.