I guess you can look at what many of us saw today through two prisms.
The congressional hearing that subjected FBI agent Peter Strzok to intense questioning was either:
- A demonstration of the free-wheeling aspect of a representative democracy, or …
- An exhibition of extreme partisanship, lowlighted by Republicans’ continual attempts to disrupt and throw the witness off his game.
Strzok was grilled for most of the day over emails he wrote that GOP House members say revealed an anti-Trump bias while he worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team that’s investigating the president’s 2016 election campaign.
He stood his ground. He denied any bias. He said his conscience is clear. The back and forth was remarkable in the anger it generated from Republicans who contended Strzok wasn’t answering their questions and from Democrats who objected to the constant hectoring of the witness.
I have two favorite spectacles from the hearing.
One was Freedom Caucus founder Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio — who’s been accused by athletes at Ohio State University of looking the other way when sexual abuse was occurring. Jordan kept interrupting Strzok, preventing him from answering the questions he was posing. Then Jordan would argue with a shrill voice that the agent was not answering his questions.
My other favorite moment involved the East Texas GOP loony bird, Rep. Louis Gohmert, who wondered whether Strzok was able to look into his wife’s eyes as he “lied” about his sexual relationship with another FBI page that Mueller fired from his legal team.
Gohmert the Goober could not have possibly sunk any lower with that kind of tawdry question. It drew howls of outrage from Democratic committee members.
All in all, this was not a good day for the cause of good government in America. We witnessed a clown show that should have ended hours ago.
