‘A Mockery and a Disgrace!’ House Hearing EXPLODES After Democrats Demand Chance to Cross-Examine GOP Witnesses

Tensions erupted in the House Judiciary Committee when members blew up at each other over the continuity of the hearing procedure and the lack of opportunities to scrutinize witnesses.

The blow-up took place in a hearing for the Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt (R) were both in attendance to give testimony on the Biden administration’s alleged influence over social media content on pandemic safety.

At one point in the hearing, Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA) confronted Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) for letting Landry and Schmitt be dismissed without a cross-examination.

“They’ve made some outlandish allegations here,” Lynch said, “and consistent with the work of this committee — especially this select committee, and at congressional hearings in general — we should have the ability to question their statements.”

Lynch continued to accuse Landry and Schmitt of putting forth “false” evidence in their testimony that he wanted to cross-examine under oath. This led to a procedural kerfuffle where Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) accused Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) of presenting “testimony that was pretty salacious, and [the witness] was allowed to leave the room and we’re not allowed to cross-examine him.”

Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) joined the fray by demanding the word “salacious” be stricken from the record because “sexual content” was not presented by any witnesses.

“Well, let’s call it ‘outrageous’ then,” Jordan acquiesced. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) was the next to call a point of order, and she and Jordan battled over whether Landry was eligible in his position to give testimony before Congress without being sworn-in.

The uproar continued until Lynch said, “If we’re not gonna have the ability to cross-examine, I would move that we move to strike the testimony provided by Senator Schmidt and, and Attorney General Landry.”

“You mean you want to censor it?” Johnson countered.

“I wanna strike it,” Lynch repeated. “If we aren’t able to probe the veracity of their statements, the truthfulness of their statements…”

“You will be given your five minutes here when we get to [the next witness],” Jordan replied.

“They’re not here!” Lynch shot back. “They scurried away with your complicity!”

Jordan and Lynch continued to talk over each other as the latter exclaimed “In a country of 330 million people, you couldn’t find two people to defend their statements. That’s pretty disgraceful!”

Jordan tried to bring on the next witness, though Lynch cut him off and declared a move to adjourn the hearing.

“This is a mockery and a disgrace and it’s shameful!” He said. “There’s a motion on the floor to adjourn, and it is not debatable. If you don’t know the rules of the committee, then talk to your parliamentarian!”

This was hardly the only dust-up the subcommittee saw today.

Watch above via CSPAN3.

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