Things got very entertaining on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, March 26, as Rep. Gregory Meeks tried to go on the offensive against Secretary of State Marco Rubio, threatening to subpoena him, and ended up just looking the fool when his record of missing meetings got called out in very entertaining fashion.
For reference, the hearing in which the incident occurred was held by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Rep. Meeks, a sitting member of the committee, attempted to use it to attack the Trump Administration’s handling of the Operation Epic Fury strikes in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Yet further, he wanted to use the strikes and his criticism of them to push for compelled testimony from Secretary of State Rubio and other key officials tied to the administration’s Iran strategy and operation. However, his push fell flat, as it was quickly revealed that he would know the answers to the questions he wanted to compel answers to if he attended the classified briefings that he has become notorious for missing.
Rep. Meeks, who is the ranking member of the panel, made his motions to subpoena Secretary Rubio, along with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, when giving his opening statement on arms control during a hearing in which Thomas DiNanno, undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department, was testifying.
Demanding the trio be dragged before Congress, Meeks said that they must face public scrutiny so the public “can hear from them directly on the most pressing international security matter facing Americans today: President Trump’s war of choice in Iran.” He then added, “If this committee cannot hold hearings on a war involving U.S. forces, the diplomacy around it, and its impacts on our allies and partners, then we are not meeting our most basic oversight responsibility. ”
That kicked off a sharp back-and-forth between him and Rep.Brian Mast (R-FL), with Mast noting that he wouldn’t need to rudely demand answers if he just showed up to the briefings, saying, “Feel free to attend any one of our fly-in day classified briefings, which you basically don’t attend at all.”
Continuing, Rep. Mast added, “You showed up 45 minutes late to that. Had you been on time, you might know a little bit more.” He then jibed, getting in a further attack against the congressman over the matter, “I’d also encourage you… you might want to take a few notes because clearly you’re forgetting every single thing that they’ve told you.”
"*" indicates required fields
That turned into a lengthy, entertaining back-and-forth between the two. Meeks, at one point, snapped, “I know that you want to protect the president, and the way you want to protect him is by not calling his people present. … No responsibility, no oversight, no public oversight. It’s time for that to stop.”
Mast responded with a vociferous reply of his own, again noting that Rep. Meeks doesn’t show up on time to the meetings. He said, “Again, I’d encourage you [to] attend the hearings and the briefings that we have. You’d learn quite a bit, and even consider showing up on time. You’ll learn a lot.”
Trying to get in a parting jab of his own, Rep. Meeks then snapped, “Stop covering up for the administration. And do your job as the chairman of this committee for oversight of the executive branch of government, and don’t be a rubber stamp.”
Watch them feud here: