Hearing erupts as Acting AG Whitaker calls time on Dem chairman: ‘Your 5 minutes is up’

[Robin]

I love Whitaker! He wasn't having any of this nonsense.


Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker stunned onlookers and lawmakers during an already-contentious House hearing Friday, when he tried to call time on the Democratic chairman after yet another line of questioning regarding Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

The retort came after Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., first said he wanted Whitaker to appear for a private deposition after the hearing and went on to ask Whitaker whether he had been “asked to approve any requests or action” for the special counsel.


“Mr. Chairman, I see that your five minutes is up, so…” Whitaker replied as the hearing room broke out in gasps. “I am here voluntarily. We have agreed to five-minute rounds.”


Nadler, who even cracked a slight smile at the response, repeated his question, and Whitaker ultimately responded: “I have not interfered in any way with the special counsel’s investigation.”

As it dragged on, the hearing repeatedly gave way to bickering among Whitaker and Democratic lawmakers, and among members of the committee, over whether Whitaker was properly answering questions. At one point, he tussled with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, when she pressed on whether he’s appeared before for an oversight hearing.

While the answer, eventually, was that he had not, the congresswoman objected when Whitaker would not answer with a requested “yes or no.” When she asked the chairman if her time had been restored, Whitaker snarked back: “I don’t know whether your time’s been restored or not.”

“Mr. Attorney General, we’re not joking here, and your humor is not acceptable,” the congresswoman responded.

The fiery back and forth follows a dramatic political prelude to the hearing itself, complete with threats by Nadler to subpoena the witness and threats by the DOJ to boycott. Democrats are acutely focused on Whitaker's oversight of the Mueller probe, in his acting AG status while awaiting confirmation of President Trump's attorney general pick William Barr.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hearing-for-acting-ag-whitaker-eru...

[Robin]

Sebastian Gorka DrG
‏
Verified account

@SebGorka

.@ericswalwell is a pathetic little man who should be put in his place like this daily.

Multiple times.

By real men.Sebastian Gorka DrG added,

Video of Swalwell getting nuked by Witaker
https://twitter.com/JFNYC1/status/1093978360173203459

[Robin]

I didn't see the whole hearing, but, Whitaker is BADASS! I so wanted to see him to get up, climb up on top of the dias, and, do a flying leap taking them all down at once. The left thinks they are so smart. Thought they could trap Whitaker, but, he is 10 steps ahead of them at every turn.

[Robin]

Trump slams ‘vicious’ Democrats for conduct at testy Whitaker hearing

President Trump on Saturday blasted “vicious” Democrats for their conduct during a House Judiciary Committee hearing a day earlier that featured Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker -- and saw fiery exchanges between him and House Dems.

“The Democrats in Congress yesterday were vicious and totally showed their cards for everyone to see,” Trump tweeted.

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The Democrats in Congress yesterday were vicious and totally showed their cards for everyone to see. When the Republicans had the Majority they never acted with such hatred and scorn! The Dems are trying to win an election in 2020 that they know they cannot legitimately win!

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While the hearing had been pitched as a standard oversight hearing, it soon turned into a contentious, confirmation-style grilling of Whitaker, despite the fact that he may only have a few more days left on the job. Trump’s pick to head the DOJ, former Attorney General William Barr, is poised for Senate confirmation in the near future.

Democrats became increasingly agitated at what they saw as Whitaker’s efforts to run out the clock and control the hearing process. This, as they sought to ask him about his oversight of FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who has been conducting an expansive probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race.

Whitaker stunned onlookers when he told House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., that his time slot had expired as Nadler asked Whitaker if he'd been “asked to approve any requests or action” for the special counsel.

“Mr. Chairman, I see that your five minutes is up, so…” Whitaker replied, eliciting gasps from the room. “I am here voluntarily. We have agreed to five-minute rounds.”

Republicans on Friday backed Whitaker, with ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., calling on the committee to adjourn -- although a vote to do so did not pass. Collins called the daylong hearing a “dog and pony show.”

On Saturday Trump said that Republicans “never acted with such hatred and scorn” when they had the majority.

“The Dems are trying to win an election in 2020 that they know they cannot legitimately win!” he said. Trump has repeatedly referred to the Russia investigation as a "witch hunt."

The tone of the hearing had been teased on Thursday when Nadler threatened to subpoena Whitaker, while the DOJ threatened to boycott the hearing.

Nadler made clear early Thursday that he did not want to have to subpoena Whitaker, but said a “series of troubling events” suggested it would be better for him to be prepared with that authority, just in case he decided not to show up for the hearing.

But Whitaker then warned he would not show up unless lawmakers dropped the threat.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-slams-vicious-democrats-for-...