Oklahoma Republican lawmaker part of hearing room 'storm' reacts on social media

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — It was a chaotic scene on Capitol Hill Wednesday when two dozen Republicans demanded answers as to why they weren’t allowed inside closed-door proceedings. Three committees planned to interview Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper as part of the impeachment probe into President Donald Trump.

Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin and Representative Kevin Hern were both a part of the scene and posted a video afterward on Facebook. They both contend they need access to documents that aren’t considered classified.

“The most frustrating thing here is we’re talking about the impeachment of the president here and it’s not transparent,” said Mullin.

“We have a lot of press sitting out here, and they ought to be demanding to go in there. This is not classified. It’s Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi keeping the media out, keeping members of Congress out, which is extraordinarily frustrating,” said Hern.

Representative Tom Malinowski, a Democrat from New Jersey, said the reason they weren’t allowed inside is simply because they weren’t on one of the committees.

“All they basically did here was to storm a castle that they already occupy because the Republicans are in the room asking questions, interrogating witnesses, Republicans who are members of these three committees,” said Malinowski. “If they want to know what's going on, they can ask their Republican colleagues.”

It's not clear what went on when Republicans stormed the room’s three doors, but witnesses tell CNN it happened as Cooper was to testify.

One source also told CNN it was the “closest thing around here to mass civil unrest.”