Thread by @ashtonpittman

As a journalist, I'm big on access and public hearings.

But I'm glad these impeachment & SCIF hearings are private for now. Why?

Because opening statements aside, the public profitted little from the televised partisan hack shows with the Cohen, Comey and Mueller hearings.

1/

Watch the tapes.

Most Republicans refused to engage with the substance of the witnesses, dangling political whataboutisms, treated the witnesses like they were the ones being investigated, & kept bringing up Hillary, Hillary, Hillary.

And Dems? Not great either overall. 2/

Most Dems in previous televised hearings were too worried about scoring political points with their base by appearing tough and trying to have a singular heroic "Aha!" moment they could run in ads—rather than following one another up with a coherent, surgical approach. 3/

A few Dems, like @AOC, focused on precise questioning.

But far too many just repeated prior questions instead of following up with probing questions for clarification, thinking they could get "a moment" with it.

For Dems and Repubs, it was theater—and at times a clown show. 4/

So no matter how many House Republicans try to ram the door like they're storming the Bastille, angry over being denied the chance to put on more clown shows; I'm glad these hearings are being treated like real grand jury depositions. 5/

I hope public hearings will follow. If they do, though, here's a suggestion: Don't show us videos of the congresspeople asking the questions. Keep the camera only on the witnesses. Consider having legal counsel do the questioning instead. Pre-tape, even. 6/

But I, as a journalist and a citizen, am tired of televised congressional hearings where congresspeople don't take their jobs seriously, put on political clown shows, and put their energy into creating a 30 second clip for campaign ads rather than a serious inquiry. 7/

Reports say that both Republicans and Democrats in these closed hearings have been asking probing questions, have abstained from attacking witnesses, & seem to be taking the witnesses and their jobs seriously.

Good. That's how it should be. 8/

If the cameras make grown men and women in Congress act like fools instead of like grown men and women in Congress, then fine. The public interest will profit more from the results of a serious inquiry instead of transparency in the form of televised buffoonery. 9/

The reason I want #MSLeg to broadcast committee meetings is to benefit the public. If you miss them, there is no transcript or audio. The idea is to give the public better info.

In Congress lately, televised hearings do the opposite. X/X
jacksonfreepress.com/news/2019/jul/…

P.S. Obviously, there are quite a few examples of people who didn't engage in these behaviors and did take their jobs seriously. Rep. Justin Amash, the late Elijah Cummings, and others all come to mind. But the overall tenor of these hearings has been abysmal.

My use of the semi-colon here is gross and I have no idea how it happened.