Another day, another opportunity for Josh Hawley to flaunt his faux-masculinity in a Senate hearing.
On Tuesday, the author of Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs, was literally foaming at the mouth when questioning FBI director Christopher Wray. Hawley was outraged over the bureau’s nearly year-old memo about the rising domestic threat posed by “radical Catholic ideology.”
“Do you have a problem with systemic bigotry against Catholics in the FBI?” Hawley asked, as saliva came spilling out of his mouth.
Somehow, Wray managed to keep his cool. Well done!
Like many news stories in our partisan world, it’s difficult to understand what Hawley is screaming about, since only right-wing outlets are paying attention to the supposed scandal. But here’s what we can ascertain: Back in January, the Richmond FBI field office released a memo warning about the rising threat posed by “radical traditionalist Catholic ideology.”
When a whistleblower leaked the memo, the FBI said the report had been withdrawn. Wray told Congress in July the report only came from the Richmond office, and he “ordered it withdrawn” from FBI systems as soon as he found out.
“I was aghast,” he said.
But of course, a reasonable explanation isn’t enough for rabid House Republicans, who would rather chase conspiracies than govern. A few months back, the House Judiciary Committee released a less-redacted version of the document, which indicates the FBI’s Los Angeles field office “initiated an investigation.”
Is your head spinning yet? What tedium!
Despite there being no evidence about the FBI waging a real investigation into the matter, Republicans continue to insist Catholics are being targeted.
Hawley ran with that line Tuesday.
“Are you gonna fire these people or not?” he asked Wray.
When Wray said those who created the report in question have been disciplined, Hawley started yelling in his big, baritone voice.
“I see. So the 60 million American Catholics, who now learn that your FBI has recommended that priests be recruited as informants, your FBI has gone to priests, choir directors, but we’re to be feel better, because you’ve admonished them for your wrongdoing,” he railed.
When Wray said Hawley was conflating different issues, the gasbag senator from Missouri interrupted again.
“You said categorically, ‘We do not go to priests and ask them about their parishioners,'” he berated. “You said, ‘We do not.’ You didn’t say ‘we haven’t.’ You didn’t say ‘we won’t.’ You said ‘we don’t.’ But you do, and you kept it from the public! You deliberately misled Congress about it!”
“I just fundamentally disagree with your characterization,” replied Wray.
We were off to the races yet again. By the way, has anybody told Hawley that Joe Biden, the sitting president, is a practicing Catholic?
this thing Republicans keep pushing about the Catholic president being biased against Catholics is pretty weird and desperate https://t.co/RnZUdRUdOH— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 5, 2023
And his efforts always blow up in his face. Take last month, for instance, when he tried to reprimand Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a rogue employee’s antisemitic social media posts.
Mayorkas, whose mother was a Holocaust survivor, quickly shut Hawley down.
“Senator Hawley takes an adversarial approach to me in this question, and perhaps he doesn’t know my own background,” he said.
“Perhaps he doesn’t know that I am the child of a Holocaust survivor. Perhaps he does not know that my mother lost almost all of her family at the hands of the Nazis. So I find his adversarial tone to be entirely misplaced. I find it to be disrespectful of me and my heritage. And I do not expect an apology, but I did want to say what I just articulated.”
Suddenly, the quick-footed senator no longer seemed so tough.
Getting bested in rhetorical combat by the *head of the NCAA* is among the most embarrassing things (though obvs not at the top of the list) that this man will achieve in his entire career https://t.co/U3LfzlOK7d— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) October 17, 2023
We’re sensing a pattern here. Hawley keeps losing his temper, while those on the receiving end of his tirades retain their composure.
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WINTER
(@ChaoticLeftistW) December 5, 2023
