In a hilarious moment from a contentious Senate hearing, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) reduced a Democrat witness to sputtering rage after he called the professor a “wack job.” Debating the regulations of cryptocurrencies, Professor Painter argued that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has failed to adapt to current technological challenges adequately,
For context, the entitled professor criticized a 236-page bill by Rep. French Hill (R-AR) and stated that Congress should adhere to broad principles in his unhinged rant. Firing back, Kennedy made the professor look like a fool with his quick wit.
Such was shown when the Luisana senator blasted the Democratic witness. Starting, Kennedy laid a trap by asking a simple question which the professor was entirely unprepared for: “Why is the digital assets industry so scared of being regulated by the SEC?”
Responding with an evasive and vague answer, the witness replied, “Well, I think we need to step back. Senator, briefly, they don’t want everything treated as a security risk because they don’t want that entire framework to apply. But that’s also because the SEC did fail to try to customize its rules, sure to adapt for this technology, and it should do that.”
Firing back at this absurd suggestion, Kennedy turned up the pressure on the slimy witness. The Republican said, “You’re suggesting that we turn to two of our agencies, one of which is the SEC, and say you have expertise. Before we take a crack at a bill, you come up with a bill with rules and regulations.”
Replying with another vague answer, the professor whined, “A lot of that should really be left to the agencies. You could establish some principles, but I wouldn’t write detailed rules.” When asked about a recent bill proposed by Rep. Hill, the professor stated, ” I think it’s got a lot of problems. I think it’s 236 pages of regulatory arbitrage opportunities for creative lawyers. ”
Referring to a controversial tweet by the witness, Kennedy countered, “Mr. Painter,
do you think Senator Gillibrand is a crook?” Firing back, the biased professor said, “No. And I do not think all politicians are crooks. And you call her a crook, I did not call her a crook.
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Annoyed, Kennedy exploded, saying, “You’re doing this again. You did …$217,000 in crypto donations. You tweeted that… and you said the crypto industry is buying Congress and the White House. This won’t end well. Why do you think the crypto industry is buying Senator Gillibrand?”
After another non-answer, Kennedy built up to a crescendo. The enraged republican said, “You are distorting what I said, just like you did in the last hearing. You’re wasting everybody’s time. You’re a whack job….I think you are next level whack job.”
Watch the clip here:
Concluding the dramatic interaction and his epic rebuke, Senator Kennedy chastised the disrespectful witness. Confidently calling out the biased professor, Kennedy declared, “You think we are middle school. …This is not Middle School. Thank you for your participation.”
Featured image from embedded video