That’s when Jordan stepped in to make a simple but effective point.
“Ms. Engelbrecht,” Jordan said, “in the first 20 years of business, did OSHA ever visit your place of business?”
“No sir,” she responded.
“No sir,” she responded.
“Never once?”
“No sir.”
“After you filed the [tax-exempt application for King Street Patriots], OSHA visited then, right?”
“Yes sir.”
“In the first 20 years of business did the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] ever come to your business?” Jordan continued.
“No sir.”
“And they came a couple times once you filed your application?”
“Yes sir.”
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) pressed Tea Party group leader Catherine Engelbrecht during a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill. (AP)
“And in your first 20 years of business, did the IRS ever audit you?”
“No sir.”
“But once you filed your application, they audited you?”
“Many times.”
“And in your first 20 years of business, did the FBI ever visit you?”
“No sir.”
“But once you filed your application, did they visit you?”
“Six times.”
Jordan made his final point: “Mr. Connolly wants us to believes that’s all a coincidence.”
Unamused with Jordan’s line of questioning, an agitated Connolly shot back, insisting that he’s merely looking for evidence of the scrutiny being politically motivated.
“You can believe it’s all a coincidence,” Jordan said. “I refuse to do so.”
“I believe in fact-based, empirical oversight,” Connolly responded. “And innuendo and drawing conclusions and paranoia do not substitute for fact-based, empirical oversight.”
Connolly concluded by muttering the word “McCarthyism”:
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