Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) badgered a witness at a House hearing Thursday to coerce her into answering a leading question about the immigration crisis. (Watch the video below.)
Deborah Pearlstein, a professor of law and public affairs at Princeton, was not on trial during Republicans’ impeachment hearing for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. But it sure seemed like it. Greene launched an absurd interrogation marked by interruptions to browbeat Pearlstein so she would narrow down the cause of the border crisis to either President Joe Biden or Mayorkas.
In one exchange, Greene said: “Ms. Pearlstein, you talked about policy in your testimony today. So that would be Joe Biden ― I’m sure you voted for him for president. You’ve been talking about the Biden administration policy has been the cause of all of this. So is it Joe Biden’s policy, the administration’s policy, or is it Secretary Mayorkas?”
“The Constitution, no matter which…” Pearlstein replied.
“I asked you a question,” Greene interrupted. “Is it the Biden administration or Secretary Mayorkas, not the Constitution. We’re not talking about the Constitution. Is it the Biden administration’s open border policies or is it Secretary Mayorkas breaking federal law? One or the other. Because the statistics are clear. Are you capable of answering that question?”
“I’m not sure, those were about four questions,” Pearlstein said.
Greene again rewound her effort to get Pearlstein to blame Biden or Mayorkas, snapping at the witness that she “can’t point to the Constitution!”
House Republicans are advancing their attempt to impeach Mayorkas despite a lack of proof that he has “committed high crimes or misdemeanors, the constitutional standard for impeachment,” the New York Times reported.
Pearlstein, who was invited by House Democrats, reportedly made the point that disagreement with policy was not constitutional grounds for impeachment in her exchange with Greene.
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