Lee Moran
Updated Fri, September 29, 2023
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Thursday said it was “important to underscore the significance” of Republicans leaving the room during their first formal hearing in their impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.
“Your opposition is going to use every point of leverage possible and you have to stay in your seats for procedural votes,” Ocasio-Cortez explained to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.
“You really, in consequential hearings, it is ‘Hearing 101’ that all members have to be in their seats to prepare for any affront from the opposition,” she added.
During the hearing itself, Ocasio-Cortez accused Republicans of showing a “fabricated” screenshot of a text message.
To Hayes, she said: “At this point, we should be investigating the investigation for the ethical conduct that is happening on the Republican side of the aisle.”
“I think frankly the GOP knew this is cooked and done from the beginning,” she continued, noting Republicans’ own expert witnesses admitted there was not enough evidence to impeach Biden, who they accuse of corruption during his time as vice president.
“I’m not sure why they decided to embarrass themselves today,” she added. “I don’t know what was quite going through their minds.”
Watch the interview here:
AOC accuses Republicans of making up evidence in Biden hearing
Martin Pengelly in Washington
THE GUARDIAN
Thu, September 28, 2023
Questioning witnesses in the first impeachment hearing staged by House Republicans, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez prompted each to say they were not presenting “firsthand witness accounts” of crimes committed by Joe Biden.
The New York Democrat also accused Republicans of fabricating supposed evidence of corruption involving the president and his surviving son, Hunter Biden.
Republicans on the House oversight committee called three witnesses, Democrats one.
Ocasio-Cortez questioned the Republican witnesses first.
Turning to Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University and well-known conservative commentator, she said: “In your testimony today, are you presenting any firsthand witness account of crimes committed by the president of the United States?”
“No, I’m not,” said Turley, who had already made headlines by saying he did “not believe that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment”.
Ocasio-Cortez asked the same question of Eileen O’Connor, a former assistant attorney general in the justice department tax division who worked for Donald Trump’s transition team and is a member of the rightwing Federalist Society.
“No, I’m not,” said O’Connor, who was also called out during the hearing for omitting the word “Hunter” when referring to the title of a piece she wrote for the Wall Street Journal in July, namely: “You’d go to prison for what Hunter Biden did.”
Ocasio-Cortez asked the same question of Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant:
“As the third and final Republican witness in this hearing, have you in your testimony presented any firsthand witness account of crimes committed by the president of the United States?”
“I have not,” he said.
Ocasio-Cortez said she would “assume the same” of the sole witness called by Democrats, Michael J Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor.
He said: “I’m not a fact witness. Correct.”
Widely known as AOC, the congresswoman has a passionate following among progressives and an equally passionate legion of haters among conservatives. Her questioning duly made a splash on social media.
Turning to an item of actual evidence presented by Republicans, she accused them of making it up.
Referring to Byron Donalds, she said: “Earlier today, one of our colleagues, the gentleman from Florida, presented up on the screen something that … appeared to be a screenshot of a text message containing or insinuating an explosive allegation.
“That screenshot of what appeared to be a text message was a fabricated image.”
Donalds showed text messages he claimed indicated that Hunter Biden engaged in fraud and money laundering, to the benefit of his father.
“I don’t know where it came from,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I don’t know if it was the staff of the committee, but it was not the actual direct screenshot from that phone.”
She added: “What was brought out from that fabricated image excluded critical context that changed the underlying meaning and allegation that was presented up on that screen, by this committee and by members of this committee.”
Ocasio-Cortez also noted that only the witnesses in the hearing were under oath and therefore bound to tell the truth. In contrast, members of Congress could say whatever they wanted.
Ocasio-Cortez slams Republicans for using ‘fabricated image’ in Biden hearing
Thu, September 28, 2023
Questioning witnesses in the first impeachment hearing staged by House Republicans, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez prompted each to say they were not presenting “firsthand witness accounts” of crimes committed by Joe Biden.
The New York Democrat also accused Republicans of fabricating supposed evidence of corruption involving the president and his surviving son, Hunter Biden.
Republicans on the House oversight committee called three witnesses, Democrats one.
Ocasio-Cortez questioned the Republican witnesses first.
Turning to Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University and well-known conservative commentator, she said: “In your testimony today, are you presenting any firsthand witness account of crimes committed by the president of the United States?”
“No, I’m not,” said Turley, who had already made headlines by saying he did “not believe that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment”.
Ocasio-Cortez asked the same question of Eileen O’Connor, a former assistant attorney general in the justice department tax division who worked for Donald Trump’s transition team and is a member of the rightwing Federalist Society.
“No, I’m not,” said O’Connor, who was also called out during the hearing for omitting the word “Hunter” when referring to the title of a piece she wrote for the Wall Street Journal in July, namely: “You’d go to prison for what Hunter Biden did.”
Ocasio-Cortez asked the same question of Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant:
“As the third and final Republican witness in this hearing, have you in your testimony presented any firsthand witness account of crimes committed by the president of the United States?”
“I have not,” he said.
Ocasio-Cortez said she would “assume the same” of the sole witness called by Democrats, Michael J Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor.
He said: “I’m not a fact witness. Correct.”
Widely known as AOC, the congresswoman has a passionate following among progressives and an equally passionate legion of haters among conservatives. Her questioning duly made a splash on social media.
Turning to an item of actual evidence presented by Republicans, she accused them of making it up.
Referring to Byron Donalds, she said: “Earlier today, one of our colleagues, the gentleman from Florida, presented up on the screen something that … appeared to be a screenshot of a text message containing or insinuating an explosive allegation.
“That screenshot of what appeared to be a text message was a fabricated image.”
Donalds showed text messages he claimed indicated that Hunter Biden engaged in fraud and money laundering, to the benefit of his father.
“I don’t know where it came from,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I don’t know if it was the staff of the committee, but it was not the actual direct screenshot from that phone.”
She added: “What was brought out from that fabricated image excluded critical context that changed the underlying meaning and allegation that was presented up on that screen, by this committee and by members of this committee.”
Ocasio-Cortez also noted that only the witnesses in the hearing were under oath and therefore bound to tell the truth. In contrast, members of Congress could say whatever they wanted.
Ocasio-Cortez slams Republicans for using ‘fabricated image’ in Biden hearing
Lauren Irwin
Thu, September 28, 2023
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed Republicans for using a “fabricated image” in the first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Biden.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden after Republicans alleged the president and his son, Hunter Biden, profited from foreign business deals. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee held its first hearing Thursday.
During the hearing Ocasio-Cortez sat next to a computer screen that showed a clock, ticking down the seconds until the federal funding deadline.
The fabricated image Ocasio-Cortez referenced was a screenshot of a text message presented earlier in Thursday’s hearing introduced by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), she said.
“Earlier today, one of our colleagues, the gentleman from Florida, presented up on the screen something that appeared to be a screenshot of a text message containing or insinuating an explosive allegation,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the hearing. “That screenshot of what appeared to be a text message was a fabricated image.”
“I don’t know where it came from. I don’t know if it was the staff of the committee, but it was not the direct screenshot from that phone,” she added.
The New York congresswoman said the fabricated image excluded “critical context that changed the underlying meaning and allegation.”
Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged that members of the committee are within their rights to submit a fabricated image under the Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution, which protects members of Congress from lawsuits over legislative speech.
Still, she said they were wasting their time and that the hearing was an “embarrassment.” Each of the three witnesses testifying before the panel told Ocasio-Cortez and the committee that there is not enough evidence yet to impeach Biden.
“This is an embarrassment to the time and people of this country, and I would ask that the chair and I would ask that this Committee elevate to the promise of our duties here and comport ourselves with the consistency and practice that is required of our seats and our duty and … our oath to our responsibilities here,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
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