MAKE IT STOP

House Hearing Descends Into Inane Shouting Match Over Conspiracy Theories, Masks

Mary Gay Scanlon called Jim Jordan’s questioning “fringe conspiracy theories,” and the Ohio representative lost it.

A shouting match between congressmen broke out during Wednesday’s antitrust hearing with American tech CEOs. During her five minutes of questioning, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) referred to Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) line of questioning on anti-conservative bias, which lack substantive evidence, as “fringe conspiracy theories”—prompting Jordan to interrupt her to yell, “We have the email!” The chairman of the hearing repeatedly told Jordan that he didn’t “control the time” and should be silent.

It didn’t stop Jordan yelling and, as tension escalated, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) shouted, “Put your mask on!” Jordan replied, “You want to talk about masks? Why would the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury unmask Michael Flynn?”—a totally unrelated reference to the Obama administration requesting intelligence on the former National Security Advisor. Jordan continued, “What I want to know is if someone comes after my motives for asking questions, do I get a chance to respond?” Eventually, Scanlon continued with her question.