During a recent press conference, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) appeared to confuse both the press and his fellow senators with an answer to one reporter's question, prompting one of his colleagues to interject.
The New Republic reported Wednesday that Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, was answering questions about efforts to impeach U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. Both President Donald Trump and some of his most vocal supporters have called for Boasberg to be removed from the bench due to ruling against the president's deportations of immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
"Do you agree with your colleagues that Judge Boasberg should be impeached, and if so, what do you think that process would look like?" A reporter is heard saying.
"I’m sorry. I’ve got hearing problems, so speak louder," said Grassley, who turned 92 in September.
After the reporter repeated the question, Grassley ignored the question about whether he supported impeaching Boasberg and instead spoke abut something that appeared to be unrelated.
"Well, first of all, we wanna make sure that we have all the documents, all the information that we can possibly get, so we know that these people who come before us, they know what to say or not to say," The Iowa Republican said. "We gotta make sure that we have all the documents, all the information that we can possibly get, so we know when these people that come before us … they know what to say or not to say. And we gotta make sure that we got the documents so that when they lie to us, we can challenge ’em."
As Grassley spoke, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) were seen exchanging uncomfortable glances. Sen. Lindsey Graham then jumped up to the lectern as Grassley stepped back.
"Can I say something about that? Impeachment starts in the House," Graham said.
The U.S. Senate has been accused of being a gerontocracy (rule by the elderly) by the Guardian's David Smith, given the advanced ages of many of its members. Pew found in January that while the median age of the Senate dropped slightly in the 119th Congress, it still remains at 64.7 years old.
Watch the exchange below:
Click here to read the New Republic's article in its entirety.