Democrat asks Jordan to tell GOP lawmaker to ‘shut up’ during heated FTC hearing

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story inaccurately described which court cleared the way for Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Tensions boiled over during the House Judiciary Committee’s contentious Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oversight hearing Thursday morning.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) called out the “hypocrisy” and “the lack of integrity” of some Republican lawmakers who questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray’s judgment in a Wednesday hearing and were now interrogating FTC Chair Lina Khan.

He alleged that these GOP lawmakers weaponized the government Jan. 6 “to overthrow the government in contradiction of their oath of office.”

“Is the gentleman accusing us of a lack of integrity?” one Republican lawmaker interrupted.

“Mr. Chairman, if you would ask whoever it is to shut up?” Cohen shot back.

“I’m sure [Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)] will rule when he comes back,” the lawmaker quipped.

Cohen’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

A few minutes later, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) implied Khan, a British-born American with Pakistani parents, was under Republican attack for her work in part because of her ethnicity.

“When we treat a witness who looks like you with the politics of personal destruction, and when we only attack witnesses who look like you with allegations of incompetence and a lack of ability to lead their agency, it’s indicative of the need for this committee to reflect what the American people look like,” Johnson said.

---

More from The Hill

Secret Service ends probe of White House cocaine discovery with no suspect

Legal experts see strong potential for Trump charges in Jan. 6 probe

No fingerprints, DNA sample or leads from cocaine found at the White House, the Secret Service says

---

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who questioned Khan before Johnson’s remark, bristled at the assertion, requesting Johnson’s comments be stricken from the record.

“I would ask that that portion of his testimony be taken down as inappropriate and argumentative to and making a racial slur against myself and other members of the Congress, who, by the way, yesterday treated what I would call a very white man of a greater age very similarly,” Issa said.

Republicans hammered Khan on what they characterized as her mismanagement of the agency, politicized rulemakings and aggressive and unproductive action to stop corporate mergers.

They repeatedly pointed to a ruling issued this week by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that cleared the way for Microsoft to buy the video game company Activision Blizzard, a ruling the FTC said Thursday it would appeal.

Democrats have been largely supportive of the FTC’s efforts to prevent corporate mergers that they argue would harm consumers and give single businesses too much power over their industries.

Jordan sought to settle tensions, reminding the committee, “We should all engage in proper decorum, not disparage colleagues, not disparage people in the government, not disparage anyone.”

“No personal affront was intended,” Johnson clarified.

The hearing comes on the heels of a similarly heated hearing the committee held Wednesday where Republican lawmakers grilled Wray about the agency’s credibility and accused the agency of being politically biased in its ongoing investigations of former President Trump.

Updated at 3:02 p.m.