Democrat's Putin Mask Steals the Show at Biden Hearing

Democratic Congressman wore a mask of Russian President Vladimir Putin while arriving at the House Oversight Committee's latest hearing into President Joe Biden on Wednesday.

Moskowitz, who represents Florida's 23rd Congressional District, and other Democrats have accused Republicans of peddling Russian disinformation in their investigations into the president.

The Context

Republicans have used their narrow majority of the House of Representatives to launch investigations against Biden, largely focused on whether President Biden benefited from the foreign business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden. Critics of these Republican efforts say the investigations have not turned up substantial evidence to prove President Biden engaged in any wrongdoing.

What We Know

The House Oversight Committee met on Wednesday for a hearing titled "HEARING on Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden's Abuse of Public Office," the committee wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Reporters noted that Moskowitz showed up to the hearing wearing the Putin mask.

"As he arrives at House Oversight Committee's latest hearing into Hunter Biden, Rep Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) wears Putin mask. Democrats have accused GOP of perpetuating Russian disinformation," posted CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane, who also shared a photograph of Moskowitz wearing the mask.

Moskowitz explained why he wore the mask in remarks to reporters, but declined to answer a question from one journalist asking if the behavior is "kind of immature."

"I just came to thank James Comer for taking all of our intelligence and using it in the committee. Maybe he can come see the technology in our grocery stores," he said.

Newsweek reached out to Moskowitz's office for comment via email.

Last month, a key witness in the Republicans' case against Biden, Alexander Smirnov, was indicted for allegedly lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) about the Biden family's business dealings in Ukraine. He has also allegedly told officials he had contacts with Russian intelligence-affiliated officials, the Associated Press reported.

Following his arrest, Democrats have accused Republicans of echoing Russian disinformation about Biden.

"This is all a PR stunt in order to spread misinformation, some of it from the Russians, some of it from former Chinese foreign agents, to the American people, yes, to do the bidding of other countries, in order to try to bring the president's poll numbers down based on false information," Moskowitz said during a CNN interview in February.

Views

Moskowitz drew mixed reactions from X users.

"Democrat Jared Moskowitz is unhinged," wrote the Citizen Free Press, a conservative publication.

"Your country is ran by drama-club losers who aren't talented enough to make it in Hollywood, wrote conservative commentator Collin Rugg, calling Moskowitz a "clown."

"I disapprove of dumb schticks when Republican congresspeople do them and I disapprove of this now. Just because you can 'go viral' and get attention for this stuff doesn't mean that you should, Congressman," wrote Lucy Caldwell, board advisor for the Renew Democracy Initiative.

"Rep. Moskowitz is hilariously trolling the GOP today during their sham hearing by wearing a Vladimir Putin mask as Republicans continue to peddle debunked information that came from a Kremlin asset. Yes, he plans on keeping the mask on during questioning," MeidasTouch posted.

"Jared Moskowitz is a national treasure," activist Jim Stewartson posted.

What's Next

The hearing kicked off to a tense start Wednesday morning, with lawmakers hearing testimony from Ton Bobulinski, a former Hunter Biden business associate and Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani. During Bobulinski's hearing, he said Democratic lawmakers would "continue to lie" during the hearing.

The remark sparked criticism from Moskowitz, who reportedly shouted to Bobulinsk, "Keep going, you fool," according to Punchbowl News' Max Cohen.

Update 3/20/24, 10:55 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.

Update 3/20/24, 11:35 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.