On Thursday night, a House Oversight Committee hearing on whether to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt quickly went off the rails, thanks to Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene insulting Representative Jasmine Crockett’s appearance.
The hearing was taking place because Garland refused to turn over recordings between President Biden and special counsel Robert Hur. Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat and the committee’s ranking member, was making opening remarks, before being repeatedly interrupted by Greene. In one such interruption, Greene asked if any Democrats on the committee were employing the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Donald Trump’s hush-money trial.
“Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland,” Crockett said, and Raskin remarked, “Is she a porn star?” to Greene’s question, referencing adult film actress Stormy Daniels at the center of Trump’s case.
“You know what we’re here for,” Greene said, and, speaking over Crockett, added, “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading,” to loud groans and protests in the room.
“That’s beneath even you, Ms. Greene,” Raskin said, as Committee Chair James Comer tried and failed to call for order. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quickly moved to have Greene’s words stricken from the congressional record.
“That is absolutely unacceptable,” Ocasio-Cortez said loudly. “How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person!”
“Are your feelings hurt?” Greene retorted, to which Ocasio-Cortez replied, “Baby girl, don’t even play.”
Greene refused to apologize for her insult to Crockett, and in response, Greene’s words were not taken down. Greene continued to argue with Ocasio-Cortez, asking to debate her, before insulting the New York congresswoman’s intelligence. But then, Crockett asked for a point of order.
“I’m just curious, just to better understand your ruling: If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleach blonde, bad built, butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?” Crockett asked aloud, drawing audible laughs, a smirk from Raskin, and visible confusion from Comer, who did not understand what was going on.
Watch the whole sequence below:
This video lays out what happened in tonight’s heated exchange in the oversight hearing pic.twitter.com/7QTmpsa1eA
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 17, 2024
In a tweet later in the evening, Crockett called out Greene for refusing to apologize, and Comer for allowing her remarks.
“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!” Crockett posted.
Procedural matters over interruptions would slow things down considerably, and at one point, Republican Representative Lauren Boebert, who has feuded with Greene, voted with Democrats against a motion to allow Greene to speak. The chaotic atmosphere even seemed to spill over just outside the hearing.
“We have some members in the room who are drinking inside the hearing room ... who are not on this committee,” complained Representative Melanie Stansbury.
The hearing would eventually conclude, with the committee voting to hold Garland in contempt. For Greene, Thursday night’s events may have hurt standing with her fellow Republicans even further, as she has already drawn her colleagues’ ire for her failed attempt to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. For Republicans themselves, it’s the latest example of a party and caucus in poor health, ruled by chaos.
