'You lied to us under oath': Hawley corners Biden nominee with her own words that contradict her testimony

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) confronted President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the National Archives and Records Administration on Tuesday in a tense exchange that included accusations of perjury.

While testifying before Congress last year, Dr. Colleen Shogan told the Senate that she would not turn over her Twitter posts — which had been public prior to her nomination — because they were only about "mystery novels, events about the White House Historical Association, Pittsburgh sports teams, travels, and my dog," thus denying charges of partisanship.

At a Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, Hawley reminded Shogan of those comments, which were made under oath, and that she was, at the moment, also under oath. Shogan then reaffirmed the truth of that statement.

What followed was Hawley confronting Shogan about partisan Twitter posts that were not about any of the topics she claimed they were about.

In February 2022, Shogan bemoaned the dropping of mask requirements for children. In May 2022, Shogan endorsed banning assault weapons. In January 2021, she criticized Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). In December 2020, Shogan criticized then-President Donald Trump. In December 2021, Shogan said religious flags on the lawn of the Library of Congress needed to be removed, unaware that they were legally permitted to be there.

But Shogan refused to answer. Instead, after each instance of being confronted with her own words, Shogan told Hawley, "My social media is in my personal capacity."

Eventually, Hawley gave up.

"I have to say, I have been here for four years in the Senate," he finally said. "I have never seen a witness stonewall like this before. Never. And I've seen a lot.

"This is extraordinary," the exasperated senator added. "I mean, this is unbelievable, and you want to be the archivist of the United States. You lied to us under oath. You lied to us in your [Questions for the Record]. You just lied to me a second ago under oath. And now you're sitting here stonewalling, not answering questions about public posts that you've made."

‘You Are Lying Under Oath': Senator Hawley Slams Archivist Nomineewww.youtube.com

Before concluding his questions, Hawley asked one more time whether she would turn over her social media posts. But she declined to do that.

"Mr. Chairman, I have to tell you, this is the most extraordinary thing I have seen in my brief time in the Senate," Hawley responded.

"I have never seen a witness blatantly lie under oath like Dr. Shogan has just done to this committee, stonewalled this committee, and just repeatedly refused to answer my questions about her own posts that are in public," he continued.

"For these reasons, I will oppose your nomination and I strongly, strongly urge this committee to take action on this and force this witness to own up to the fact that she is misleading us right now before our eyes," Hawley concluded.

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