A House Oversight Committee hearing that was supposed to cover contempt proceedings for Attorney General Merrick Garland devolved into chaos and name-calling after repeated interruptions from a certain far-right representative from Georgia.
Thursday night’s meeting was originally intended to advance a measure to hold Garland in contempt for refusing to hand over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. But it quickly fell off the rails, with Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) responsible for much of the drama and delay.
Republicans have been obsessed with Hur’s investigation ever since the special counsel revealed that Biden suffered memory loss during the interview. Biden on Thursday blocked access to the audio by invoking executive privilege, which was met with typical criticism from the committee’s chair, Rep. James Comer (R-KY).
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Despite the seriousness of the matter at hand, the committee meeting had barely begun when the fireworks started.
Greene, along with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), repeatedly interrupted Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, as he made opening remarks.
“Ladies and gentleman, in this special night-time episode, we resume the madcap comedy mystery series called Comer’s High Crimes and Misadventures: The Hilarious Quest to Impeach a President Who Has Done Nothing Wrong,” Raskin joked, describing it a “low-budget, but multi-million-dollar taxpayer-funded production that most Americans assumed ended months ago.”
Greene interrupted: “You mean like the January 6 Committee?”
Raskin targeted Republicans for their years-long (and so far unsuccessful) quest to impeach President Biden, while also targeting GOP members who attended Trump’s hush-money trial earlier in the day for postponing the session, which was supposed to be held at 11 a.m.
But Greene persisted. Her interruptions became so incessant that, at one point, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) demanded: “Order Mr. Chairman, get her under control.”
The meeting truly went off the rails after Greene veered off on another tangent criticizing the daughter of the judge handling Trump’s New York business fraud case, Juan Merchan.
Baffled, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) asked Greene pointedly: “Do you know what we’re here for?”
“I don’t think you know what you’re here for. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading,” Greene shot back.
The comments were immediately met by a chorus of disapproval, with Raskin chiming in, claiming “that’s beneath even you.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was so furious she yelled back at Greene: “That is absolutely unacceptable, how dare you attack the physical appearance of another person,” she said, enraged, while moving to remove Greene’s words from the record.
Greene replied: “Are your feelings hurt?”
“Oh girl, baby girl, don’t even play with me,” AOC shot back.
“Oh really? Baby girl? I don’t think so,” Greene replied.
Greene refused to apologize, telling AOC, “Why don’t you debate me?” When AOC replied: “I think it’s pretty self-evident,” Greene shot back: “Yeah, you don’t have enough intelligence.”
Comer ultimately ruled that Greene’s words remain on the record. She again refused to apologize.
Crockett then took aim. “I’m just curious. To better understand your ruling, if someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleached-blonde, bad-built, butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?”
Anna Paulina Luna then jumped in, making a motion to strike Crockett’s words. “We’re not gonna do this,” she said, as a shocked Crockett responded: “I’m trying to get clarification!”
Luna: Calm down. Calm down.
Crockett: No, no, no! Because this is what y’all do. So, I’m trying to get clarification because y’all wanna play games...
Luna: I can’t hear you with your yelling.
Crockett: ... and you don’t want to
Luna: Calm down.
Crockett: No! Don’t tell me to calm down because y’all talk noise and then you can’t take it!
Luna: You’re outta control.
Crockett: Because if I come and talk shit about her, y’all gonna have a problem!
At one point, another Democrat on the committee, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, complained that members who were not part of the committee were drinking in the hearing room as the conflict raged, according to Axios.
Ultimately, the Republican-led panel approved a report recommending a contempt of Congress resolution against Garland. It’s now up to the House to vote, though it is unclear when that may take place.
Afterwards, Crockett posted on X: “So MTG wanted to talk about my appearance in COMMITTEE?! It’s against the rules to do… She refused to apologize! The chairman ruled that it was ok… AND I asked for clarification about what qualifies as ‘engaging in personalities’ & basically wanted to know if I could talk shit about her appearance as… well… y’all know what she looks like, right? PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES! This is what happens when mentally deficient people who can’t read and follow rules or just don’t give a damn… somehow end up in CONGRESS!”
Greene did not address the drama on social media after the fact, but posted on X claiming, “Democrats can’t stop attacking President Trump even after wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on their sham J6 Committee.”
