Whitaker Shines at Democrats’ First Circus of the New Year

Mueller-obsessed Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee launched into their first contentious hearing on Friday, grilling Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker for six hours in an effort to reveal that President Trump had tried to get the special counsel’s investigation shut down. Despite all of those hours of questions, however, the Democrats on the committee only succeeded in showing the American people how desperate they are to turn the next two years into a congressional witch hunt. You know, to match the one Mueller is conducting over at the FBI.

For his part, Whitaker was so calm and cool during the hearings that you almost had to wish that he – not William Barr – was up for replacing Jeff Sessions on a permanent basis. Not lost on Whitaker (or the Republicans on the committee) was the hypocrisy on display. For two years, the Democrats have been screaming at the GOP for conducting any oversight whatsoever when it comes to the Justice Department. Oh, oh no, we have to leave Mueller alone! Praise be, we can’t question these hard-working Department of Justice officials! Lawd, don’t talk to Rod Rosenstein that way, you lawless heathens!

But the second the shoe was on the other foot? Here they are, questioning every decision Whitaker has made over the last three months. All because it would be a national tragedy if Mueller’s witch hunt were not allowed to proceed as planned.

Our favorite (and most publicized) part of the hearing came right at the beginning. As Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) finally found his way to a question after spending forever in an unnecessary wind-up, Whitaker noted that he’d already broken his own rules for the hearing.

“Mr. Chairman, I see that your five minutes is up,” Whitaker deadpanned, drawing gasps and laughter from the room.

To be fair, Nadler seemed amused by Whitaker’s remark as well, but other Republicans on the committee felt that the witness made a good point: Nadler had in fact far exceeded his allotted time, and this was only the first question. It was a sign of things to come as Democrats spent the next six hours putting on a circus-like show for their base, accomplishing nothing other than allowing Americans to see that we have a valuable resource in Acting AG Whitaker. Hopefully, Trump can find this guy something to do after Barr is sworn in. He’s too good to let go.

At the end of the day, though, Democrats got the answer to the question they were asking – even if it wasn’t the answer they wanted.

“I have not talked to the President of the United States about the special counsel’s investigation,” said Whitaker.

Somehow we doubt that plainly-stated assertion will be enough to quell this witch hunt. Unfortunately.