Christian Smith
(The hill) – A House Oversight Committee hearing turned into chaos Thursday night when Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., clashed after the Republican accused Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, of using “false eyelashes.”
The comment — which was made during a call to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland accountable for contempt of Congress — sparked nearly an hour of disorder in the committee, with lawmakers yelling at each other and hurling insults left and right, leaving the chairman James Comer, R- Ky., struggling to maintain order.
The madness culminated Thursday night with a vote on whether or not to allow Greene to continue speaking during the hearing, which the panel ultimately granted in a vote of 22-20. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., – who has banged heads with Greene in the past — crossed party lines to vote against allowing the Georgia lawmaker to proceed during the hearing. Boebert was sitting two seats away from Greene during the vote.
“I hope you brought your popcorn,” Greene exclaimed at one point during the hearing.
Republicans moved to hold Garland in contempt after the attorney general refused to turn over an audio recording of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, despite already having a transcript of the conversation. Biden claimed executive privilege over the audio recordings.
The vote passed 24-20 along party lines just after 11pm EDT on Thursday, hours after the House Judiciary Committee did the same. The plenary of the Chamber will now vote to convict the attorney general.
Chaos erupted during Thursday night’s oversight hearing when Greene asked whether any Democrats on the panel were employing the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing former President Donald Trump’s secret trial in Manhattan. Trump and the Republicans have targeted the judge’s daughter about her job at a progressive digital agency. The Oversight Committee delayed Thursday’s contempt appointment from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., so that several Republicans on the panel could watch Trump’s trial in Manhattan.
“Please tell me what this has to do with Merrick Garland,” asked Crockett, a first-term lawmaker, later adding, “do you know why we are here?”
“I don’t think you know why you’re here,” Greene responded. “I think your false eyelashes are getting in the way of what you’re reading.”
The comment sparked outrage from Democrats, with Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the committee, saying “that’s beneath even you, Ms. Greene,” and Ocasio-Cortez shouting “that’s disgusting.”
Ocasio-Cortez moved to take back Greene’s words, calling them “absolutely unacceptable.”
“How dare you attack another person’s physical appearance,” she added.
“Are your feelings hurt?” Greene responded.
“Oh girl, oh girl, don’t even joke,” Ocasio-Cortez responded, prompting Greene to say “oh really, girl?”
The back and forth created a brief pause in the process while Comer determined how to proceed. When they resumed, Greene said she would agree to stand by her words, but Ocasio-Cortez demanded she apologize to Crockett, an exchange that prompted Greene to hurl an insult at the New York Democrat.
“I believe she needs to apologize,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“I’m not apologizing,” Greene responded, to which Ocasio-Cortez responded, “Well, then you’re not getting your words right.”
“Why don’t you debate me?” Greene asked.
“I think it’s pretty evident,” countered Ocasio-Cortez.
“Yes, you don’t have enough intelligence,” Greene responded, sparking an uproar among Democrats.
Ocasio-Cortez quickly moved to attack Greene’s “intelligence” comment, which the Georgia Republican agreed with. But she said again that she would not apologize, causing more chaos.
“You’ll never get an apology from me,” Greene reiterated shortly afterward. “I don’t owe you anything.”
More mayhem occurred minutes later when Crockett asked whether a hypothetical comment — which appeared to be a veiled jab at Greene — would break congressional protocol.
“I’m just curious, just to better understand your decision,” Crockett said, referring to a decision Comer had made regarding Greene’s comments. “If someone on this committee starts talking about someone’s blond, poorly built body, that wouldn’t be engaging in personalities, right?”
At that point, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, entered the chaos, asking to attack Crockett’s words.
“I’m trying to get clarification,” Crockett said, causing Luna to repeatedly yell “calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Crockett replied.
“Calm down,” Luna replied. “You are out of control.”
“If I come in and talk shit about her, you’re going to have a problem,” Crockett said.
“I don’t know why you’re acting like this. It’s not cute,” Luna replied.
Raskin at one point made a dig at Democrats reviving their motion to delay the process, saying, “I think these 17-hour days might not work for us.”
“Something about working, huh,” Luna replied.
Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., at that point joined the conversation.
“Yes, maybe showing up to vote,” he responded, an apparent reference to Luna’s vote-loss at the Capitol on Thursday afternoon after she appeared alongside Trump at his secret trial in Manhattan.
Luna responded, calling Goldman a “trust fund boy.”
The raucous period of the hearing, which began about 30 minutes into the proceedings, finally came to an end after the panel voted to allow Greene to continue speaking.
