Why do members of Congress in committee hearings ask witnesses the same question multiple times?
I must've seen at least 3 Congressmen ask Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal attorney, who Individual 1 was, despite the fact that in the beginning he had already said it was Donald Trump, and despite the fact that previous members had already asked him that question, as well.
What is the reason for this? What benefit does it have when the statement is already in the record?
congress
edited 1 hour ago
Michael_B
7,35242128
asked 2 hours ago
MehrdadMehrdad
519414
add a comment |
I must've seen at least 3 Congressmen ask Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal attorney, who Individual 1 was, despite the fact that in the beginning he had already said it was Donald Trump, and despite the fact that previous members had already asked him that question, as well.
What is the reason for this? What benefit does it have when the statement is already in the record?
congress
edited 1 hour ago
Michael_B
7,35242128
asked 2 hours ago
MehrdadMehrdad
519414
add a comment |
I must've seen at least 3 Congressmen ask Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal attorney, who Individual 1 was, despite the fact that in the beginning he had already said it was Donald Trump, and despite the fact that previous members had already asked him that question, as well.
What is the reason for this? What benefit does it have when the statement is already in the record?
congress
edited 1 hour ago
Michael_B
7,35242128
asked 2 hours ago
MehrdadMehrdad
519414
I must've seen at least 3 Congressmen ask Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal attorney, who Individual 1 was, despite the fact that in the beginning he had already said it was Donald Trump, and despite the fact that previous members had already asked him that question, as well.
What is the reason for this? What benefit does it have when the statement is already in the record?
congress
congress
edited 1 hour ago
Michael_B
7,35242128
asked 2 hours ago
MehrdadMehrdad
519414
edited 1 hour ago
Michael_B
7,35242128
asked 2 hours ago
MehrdadMehrdad
519414
edited 1 hour ago
Michael_B
7,35242128
edited 1 hour ago
Michael_B
7,35242128
edited 1 hour ago
Michael_B
7,35242128
7,35242128
asked 2 hours ago
MehrdadMehrdad
519414
asked 2 hours ago
MehrdadMehrdad
519414
asked 2 hours ago
MehrdadMehrdad
519414
519414
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
You're assuming that the questions are asked solely for the public record.
Here's another reason...
Members of Congress want video of themselves asking good questions that will be broadcast by their local news media and / or used in campaign commercials.
And another...
Often times you'll notice that committee seats are empty during hearings. That's because members come and go during the hearing. It's possible that one member asks a question that was asked by another member earlier in the day before the first member arrived. (Although I don't think that was the case in the Cohen hearing, as the entire committee seemed to be present for the duration.)
answered 1 hour ago
Michael_BMichael_B
7,35242128
2
I'm going to +1 this because I think it's true, or at least an extremely plausible reason to invalidate OP's assumptions. It's too bad there probably aren't many Congressmen that just straight up admit this, though.
– zibadawa timmy
1 hour ago
Asking the same question in a hearing where everybody knows it's been asked before is admission enough. They don't care about the people in that room (politically speaking). They answer to their constituents and they want their sound bite.
– Michael_B
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "475"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fpolitics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f39129%2fwhy-do-members-of-congress-in-committee-hearings-ask-witnesses-the-same-question%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
You're assuming that the questions are asked solely for the public record.
Here's another reason...
Members of Congress want video of themselves asking good questions that will be broadcast by their local news media and / or used in campaign commercials.
And another...
Often times you'll notice that committee seats are empty during hearings. That's because members come and go during the hearing. It's possible that one member asks a question that was asked by another member earlier in the day before the first member arrived. (Although I don't think that was the case in the Cohen hearing, as the entire committee seemed to be present for the duration.)
answered 1 hour ago
Michael_BMichael_B
7,35242128
2
I'm going to +1 this because I think it's true, or at least an extremely plausible reason to invalidate OP's assumptions. It's too bad there probably aren't many Congressmen that just straight up admit this, though.
– zibadawa timmy
1 hour ago
Asking the same question in a hearing where everybody knows it's been asked before is admission enough. They don't care about the people in that room (politically speaking). They answer to their constituents and they want their sound bite.
– Michael_B
1 hour ago
add a comment |
You're assuming that the questions are asked solely for the public record.
Here's another reason...
Members of Congress want video of themselves asking good questions that will be broadcast by their local news media and / or used in campaign commercials.
And another...
Often times you'll notice that committee seats are empty during hearings. That's because members come and go during the hearing. It's possible that one member asks a question that was asked by another member earlier in the day before the first member arrived. (Although I don't think that was the case in the Cohen hearing, as the entire committee seemed to be present for the duration.)
answered 1 hour ago
Michael_BMichael_B
7,35242128
2
I'm going to +1 this because I think it's true, or at least an extremely plausible reason to invalidate OP's assumptions. It's too bad there probably aren't many Congressmen that just straight up admit this, though.
– zibadawa timmy
1 hour ago
Asking the same question in a hearing where everybody knows it's been asked before is admission enough. They don't care about the people in that room (politically speaking). They answer to their constituents and they want their sound bite.
– Michael_B
1 hour ago
add a comment |
You're assuming that the questions are asked solely for the public record.
Here's another reason...
Members of Congress want video of themselves asking good questions that will be broadcast by their local news media and / or used in campaign commercials.
And another...
Often times you'll notice that committee seats are empty during hearings. That's because members come and go during the hearing. It's possible that one member asks a question that was asked by another member earlier in the day before the first member arrived. (Although I don't think that was the case in the Cohen hearing, as the entire committee seemed to be present for the duration.)
answered 1 hour ago
Michael_BMichael_B
7,35242128
You're assuming that the questions are asked solely for the public record.
Here's another reason...
Members of Congress want video of themselves asking good questions that will be broadcast by their local news media and / or used in campaign commercials.
And another...
Often times you'll notice that committee seats are empty during hearings. That's because members come and go during the hearing. It's possible that one member asks a question that was asked by another member earlier in the day before the first member arrived. (Although I don't think that was the case in the Cohen hearing, as the entire committee seemed to be present for the duration.)
answered 1 hour ago
Michael_BMichael_B
7,35242128
edited 26 mins ago
answered 1 hour ago
Michael_BMichael_B
7,35242128
answered 1 hour ago
Michael_BMichael_B
7,35242128
answered 1 hour ago
Michael_BMichael_B
7,35242128
7,35242128
2
I'm going to +1 this because I think it's true, or at least an extremely plausible reason to invalidate OP's assumptions. It's too bad there probably aren't many Congressmen that just straight up admit this, though.
– zibadawa timmy
1 hour ago
Asking the same question in a hearing where everybody knows it's been asked before is admission enough. They don't care about the people in that room (politically speaking). They answer to their constituents and they want their sound bite.
– Michael_B
1 hour ago
add a comment |
2
I'm going to +1 this because I think it's true, or at least an extremely plausible reason to invalidate OP's assumptions. It's too bad there probably aren't many Congressmen that just straight up admit this, though.
– zibadawa timmy
1 hour ago
Asking the same question in a hearing where everybody knows it's been asked before is admission enough. They don't care about the people in that room (politically speaking). They answer to their constituents and they want their sound bite.
– Michael_B
1 hour ago
2
2
I'm going to +1 this because I think it's true, or at least an extremely plausible reason to invalidate OP's assumptions. It's too bad there probably aren't many Congressmen that just straight up admit this, though.
– zibadawa timmy
1 hour ago
I'm going to +1 this because I think it's true, or at least an extremely plausible reason to invalidate OP's assumptions. It's too bad there probably aren't many Congressmen that just straight up admit this, though.
– zibadawa timmy
1 hour ago
Asking the same question in a hearing where everybody knows it's been asked before is admission enough. They don't care about the people in that room (politically speaking). They answer to their constituents and they want their sound bite.
– Michael_B
1 hour ago
Asking the same question in a hearing where everybody knows it's been asked before is admission enough. They don't care about the people in that room (politically speaking). They answer to their constituents and they want their sound bite.
– Michael_B
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Politics Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fpolitics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f39129%2fwhy-do-members-of-congress-in-committee-hearings-ask-witnesses-the-same-question%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
