July 12, 2018

The Most Unhinged Moment of the Peter Strzok Hearing Belongs to Louie Gohmert

“You need your medication!”

“You need your medication!” 

That’s what Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) cried out after Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) invoked embattled FBI agent Peter Strzok’s affair with colleague Lisa Page during Thursday’s joint hearing by the House judiciary and oversight committees.

“I can’t help but wonder when I see you looking there with a little smirk, how many times did you look so innocent into your wife’s eye and lie to her about Lisa Page,” Gohmert said, after repeatedly calling Strzok a “disgrace.”

The extraordinary remark prompted swift protest from Democratic committee members, who implored Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the chairman of the House judiciary committee, to rein in Gohmert.

“The credibility of the witness is always an issue,” Gohmert shot back amidst shouts of “outrageous” and “intolerable harassment” from his Democratic colleagues.

The exchange was among several tense moments to emerge from the hearing. Echoing President Donald Trump, House Republicans on Thursday argued that text messages between Strzok and Page demonstrated political bias and perhaps even corruption at the FBI. Democrats have charged Republicans with seizing on the text messages for “propaganda purposes” in order to undermine the ongoing Russia investigation.

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We can afford to take our time because we don’t report to oligarchs or corporations. We report to you, and for you.

And the stakes are high. Democracy is on the defense. We’ve been exposing corruption and scandal for five decades, and this is a pivotal moment in our country’s history. Will democracy prevail? We won’t wait for time to tell—independent journalism is essential for democracy, and we’ll keep doing our part to amplify the free press.

So, we’re asking: Will you join the fight? Mother Jones has been here for 50 years, and we need your support to fuel the future of investigative journalism. Mark our 50th anniversary with a gift of any amount.

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