House Oversight Committee hearings can often be raucous affairs, but a hearing on Thursday was even more so as members got personal with one another.
The committee convened to discuss a resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena.
The subpoena required him to produce President Joe Biden’s taped deposition, which was taken during an interrogation by former Special Counsel Robert Hur. Hur had looked into Biden’s possession of secret materials during his time as a senator and vice president. In the end, the special counsel declined to bring charges against Biden, citing the likelihood that a jury would view him as “an elderly man with a poor memory who is sympathetic and well-meaning.”
Tensions increased throughout the session when Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) inquired as to whether any Democratic committee members were working with Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter, who is in charge of former President Donald Trump’s criminal prosecution in New York. According to earlier reports, Merchan’s daughter is employed by a political consulting firm that has been used by committee member Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY).
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) questioned the relevance of Greene’s inquiry. Following some crosstalk, Greene made a remark about Crockett’s “fake eyelashes,” which escalated tensions. This prompted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to urge Chairman James Comer (R-KY) to order that Greene’s comments be “taken down,” or expunged from the record.
Here’s how the exchange went:
GREENE: I’d like to know if any of the Democrats on this committee are employing Judge Merchan’s daughter.
CROCKETT: Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland.
GREENE: Oh, Goldman. That’s right. He’s advising. Ok.
CROCKETT: Do you know what we’re here for? Do you know we’re here–
[CROSSTALK]
GREENE: I think your fake eyelashes are messing up your–
COMER: Hold on! Hold on! Order.
CROSSTALK]
COMER: We have a point of order. Mr. Lynch, state your point.
STEPHEN LYNCH: Mr. Chairman, I would just like to ask the parliamentarian if your conduct here in raising money in connection with this hearing is referable to the Ethics Committee within this hearing. There’s a motion in order to refer your conduct and your abuse–
COMER: That’s not a point of order.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Mr., I do have a point of order. And I would like to move to take down Ms. Greene’s words. That is absolutely unacceptable! How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person!
GREENE: Are your feelings hurt?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Move her words down!
GREENE: Aww.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Oh! Girl, baby, girl!
GREENE: Oh, really?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Don’t even play!
GREENE: Baby, girl? I don’t think so.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: We are gonna move and we are gonna take your words down.
Comer ruled that Greene’s remarks would not be removed. Greene also criticized Ocasio-Cortez, labeling her as “not intelligent.”