Silence befell the contentious House Judiciary Committee impeachment article mark-up Thursday when Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA ) subtly called out Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for hypocrisy, after Gaetz went on an extended rant about Hunter Biden’s drug problem. But the silence soon gave way to laughter.
In keeping with House rules, Johnson didn’t explicitly bring up that Gaetz himself was arrested in 2008 under suspicion of driving under the influence. (Gaetz, whose father was a member of the Florida Senate at the time, wasn’t ultimately convicted, but he has admitted that he “made bad decisions that resulted in an arrest.”)
Instead, after Gaetz’s detailed recitation of Biden’s drug issues, Johnson offered that, “I would say that the pot calling the kettle black is not something that we should do.”
“I don’t know what members, if any, have had any problems with substance abuse, been busted in DUI, I don’t know, but if I did I wouldn’t raise it against anyone on this committee,” Johnson said.
Gaetz harped on the Biden’s drug use after introducing an amendment that tweaked the language in the articles pertaining to Trump’s demands that Ukraine investigate the Bidens.
Our second amendment is from Rep. Gaetz, who wants to tweak the articles’ language about Trump’s demand for a Biden investigation pic.twitter.com/ocJHeHdLRG
— Tierney Sneed (@Tierney_Megan) December 12, 2019
In explaining the amendment, Gaetz read from a New Yorker profile of Hunter Biden that recounted an incident where cocaine and a crack pipe was allegedly found in a car Biden had rented, as well as Biden’s own admissions that he purchased crack cocaine.
Gaetz said during the remarks that he didn’t want to “make light of anybody’s substance abuse issues.”
Watch Johnson’s response below:
After Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) describes Hunter Biden's struggles with drug addiction at length, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) notes that "the pot calling the kettle black is not something we should do." pic.twitter.com/VHKJS8p8VQ
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 12, 2019
