Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) had her line of questioning cut off during a House Oversight hearing on the alleged widespread fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community on Wednesday. Pressley grilled the three GOP witnesses over President Donald Trump’s pardons of convicted fraudsters, and eventually Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Chairman James Comer (R-KY) stepped in to stop Pressley’s questioning, which Mace claimed had “gone off the rails.”
Pressley began her questioning, “Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let me just begin by making this plain. Credible fraud must be investigated and prevented. Every dollar that is stolen from public programs is a dollar that has been taken from a child who needs care, a senior who needs food, or a family that is already struggling to make ends meet. Ms. Robbins, I want to just begin with a basic question, and please answer yes or no. When someone is convicted of defrauding the public, do you believe that they should be held accountable? So if we’re serious about fraud, then we also have to be serious about accountability. Ms. Robbins, do you mind just expounding—what does accountability look like to you?”
Kristin Robbins, a GOP member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, replied, “We want to prosecute everyone who’s committed a crime, and we want to fire officials in the agencies that are liable for allowing the failure of internal controls.”
Pressley added, “Okay, so Ms. Robbins, let me be more clear. What should happen to fraudsters who steal public dollars?”
Robbins replied, “They should go to jail.”
Pressley continued to grill the witnesses for several minutes and sparred with them over Trump’s pardons of fraudsters before getting to January 6th.
“Now, yesterday was the five-year anniversary, and I want to note the January 6th insurrection. And on Donald Trump’s first day in office, he pardoned 1,500 insurrectionists, including Brian Christopher Mock, who’s from Minnesota. Are y’all gonna say you don’t know who that is? He’s from Minnesota. Now, he kicked, shoved, and threw a flagpole at police officers—you know, law enforcement that you claim to support? And he did all of that in the name of fraud. He was an election denier, so an election fraud lie. Now he claims he did these things in the name of patriotism, but really, he’s just a criminal. So raise your hand if you oppose Trump’s pardon of this Minnesota individual,” Pressley insisted.
Robbins hit back, “Ma’am, this is grandstanding nonsense is exactly what Minnesotans hate about D.C.”
Pressley insisted, “This is accountability, and you are hypocrites! So again, I will take your refusal to not—”
“Thanks for demonstrating my opening statement,” said another witness.
“Mr. Chairman, order. Decorum. She’s off the rails,” interrupted Mace.
Below is a rough transcript of the shouting match that ensued:
Pressley: Reclaim my time, I’m not off the rails, please.
Mace: You are totally off the rails.
Pressley: Nancy, enough of your tropes—
Mace: You’re out of time, you’re out of time, we’re done here, we are done.
Witness: Mr. Chair, she’s out of time. We’re starting out of order and out of time.
Comer: Ms. Pressley, Ms. Pressley, you’ve already secured your MSNDC spot tonight. Now your time’s expired.
Pressley: I’m looking for accountability and you want to run from the hypocrisy of your king and this administration.
Mace: And Mr. Chairman, I agree, she’s going to be a great host on MSNBC.
Mace: This is my time. I reclaim my time!
Comer: I wouldn’t want to jump in front of Ms. Mace if I were you, Ms. Pressley.
Pressley: I reclaim my time, this is my time.
Comer: I wouldn’t want to interrupt Ms. Mace. It’s her time. Chair recognizes Ms.—
Pressley yelling in the background as mic appears to be off.
Witness: Mr. Chairman, she’s still out of—she wants to insult us for 10 more seconds.
Mace: What do we have to do to get this woman in order? Her time is expired.
Comer: Chair recognizes Ms. Mace.
Mace: You’re going to be great on TV, you’re really good.
Pressley continued shouting into her mic, which was off.
Mace: No baby, you are not. No baby, you’re not. You are not in order.
Mace: You’re out of order. Goodbye. You’re done.
Watch the full clip above via C-SPAN.
