XPost: alt.politics.democrats.d, alt.rush-limbaugh, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.politics.liberalism   
   From: felcher.adam.schiff@sacbee.com   
      
   President Trump on Saturday blasted “vicious” Democrats for   
   their conduct during a House Judiciary Committee hearing a day   
   earlier that featured Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker --   
    and saw fiery exchanges between him and House Dems.   
      
   “The Democrats in Congress yesterday were vicious and totally   
   showed their cards for everyone to see,” Trump tweeted.   
      
   BETWEEN ACTING AG WHITAKER AND HOUSE DEMS, TRUMP-MUELLER HEARING   
   TURNS TESTY   
      
      
   Donald J. Trump   
   ?   
   @realDonaldTrump   
    The Democrats in Congress yesterday were vicious and totally   
   showed their cards for everyone to see. When the Republicans had   
   the Majority they never acted with such hatred and scorn! The   
   Dems are trying to win an election in 2020 that they know they   
   cannot legitimately win!   
      
   100K   
   6:30 AM - Feb 9, 2019   
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   While the hearing had been pitched as a standard oversight   
   hearing, it soon turned into a contentious, confirmation-style   
   grilling of Whitaker, despite the fact that he may only have a   
   few more days left on the job. Trump’s pick to head the DOJ,   
   former Attorney General William Barr, is poised for Senate   
   confirmation in the near future.   
      
   Democrats became increasingly agitated at what they saw as   
   Whitaker’s efforts to run out the clock and control the hearing   
   process. This, as they sought to ask him about his oversight of   
   FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who has been conducting an   
   expansive probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016   
   presidential race.   
      
   Whitaker stunned onlookers when he told House Judiciary   
   Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., that his time slot   
   had expired as Nadler asked Whitaker if he'd been “asked to   
   approve any requests or action” for the special counsel.   
      
   “Mr. Chairman, I see that your five minutes is up, so…” Whitaker   
   replied, eliciting gasps from the room. “I am here voluntarily.   
   We have agreed to five-minute rounds.”   
      
   Later, he was scolded by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, when   
   she asked if her time had been restored and Whitaker responded:   
   “I don’t know if your time’s been restored or not.”   
      
   HEARING ERUPTS AS ACTING AG WHITAKER CALLS TIME ON DEM CHAIRMAN:   
   'YOUR 5 MINUTES IS UP'   
      
   “Mr. Attorney General, we’re not joking here, and your humor is   
   not acceptable,” the congresswoman responded.   
      
   "I control this time, Mr. Whitaker,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-   
   Md., when Whitaker accused him of challenging his character.   
      
   “This is my time. Mr. Whitaker, you don't run this committee.   
   You don't run the Congress of the United States, and you don't   
   run the Judiciary Committee," Raskin snapped.   
      
   Republicans on Friday backed Whitaker, with ranking member Doug   
   Collins, R-Ga., calling on the committee to adjourn -- although   
   a vote to do so did not pass. Collins called the daylong hearing   
   a “dog and pony show.”   
      
   On Saturday Trump said that Republicans “never acted with such   
   hatred and scorn” when they had the majority.   
      
   “The Dems are trying to win an election in 2020 that they know   
   they cannot legitimately win!” he said. Trump has repeatedly   
   referred to the Russia investigation as a "witch hunt."   
      
   The tone of the hearing had been teased on Thursday when Nadler   
   threatened to subpoena Whitaker, while the DOJ threatened to   
   boycott the hearing.   
      
   Nadler made clear early Thursday that he did not want to have to   
   subpoena Whitaker, but said a “series of troubling events”   
   suggested it would be better for him to be prepared with that   
   authority, just in case he decided not to show up for the   
   hearing.   
      
   But Whitaker then warned he would not show up unless lawmakers   
   dropped the threat.   
      
   “Consistent with longstanding practice, I remain willing to   
   appear to testify tomorrow, provided that the chairman assures   
   me that the committee will not issue a subpoena today or   
   tomorrow and that the committee will engage in good faith   
   negotiations before taking such a step down the road,” Whitaker   
   wrote to Nadler.   
      
   Hours later, Nadler responded that if Whitaker appeared before   
   the panel “prepared to respond to questions from our members,   
   then I assure you there will be no need for the committee to   
   issue a subpoena on or before February 8.”   
      
   Whitaker accepted the assurances, as evidenced by his Friday   
   appearance. But Nadler told reporters after the hearing that he   
      
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