Congressman Mistakes Two Senior US Gov't Officials For Foreign Indian Gov't Officials

from the ouch dept

Fri, Jul 25th 2014 3:06pm — Mike Masnick

This is one of the most painful Congressional videos you'll ever see. A freshman Congressman, Curt Clawson, was in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Thursday, where two senior US government officials -- one from the State Department and another from the Commerce Department -- were testifying. Nisha Biswal and Arun Kumar are both Americans. But apparently Clawson had absolutely no clue -- even though he was in the hearing and both of the panelists were introduced as US officials. Spotted by Foreign Policy, Clawson was apparently so confused by the color of their skin and their names, that he just assumed they represented the Indian government. The video is... just painful. Clawson starts out by talking about how much he loves "your country." He also, apparently, talked about his favorite Bollywood movies. But when he wanted Biswal and Kumar to "commit" to better relationships concerning investment from the US into India, a very, very awkward pause followed. Finally, Biswal says:

"I... I... I think your question is to the Indian government. We certainly share your sentiment, and we certainly will advocate that on behalf of the U.S."

In response, Clawson, with a very awkward smile says "Of course! Ok. Let's see some progress!"

We've seen some awkward Congressional testimony situations before, like when a Senator walked into the wrong hearing and asked an unrelated question for a witness who wasn't there. But that was just reasonably laughed off. Just this morning, we wrote about Rep. John Conyers mid-question epiphany that his stance on copyright conflicted with his stance on preventing overcriminalization. But Clawson's confusion is really at quite another level of ridiculousness. People make mistakes, of course, but if you're in a Congressional hearing, you should at least know who is testifying and if you don't know, you probably shouldn't assume their nationality based on the color of their skin and their names.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: arun kumar, assumptions, commerce department, congress, curt clawson, house foreign affairs committee, inda, nisha biswal, state department, testifying

15 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2014 @ 3:15pm

Go ,Floriduh.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2014 @ 3:41pm

"Freshman Congressman"
I've seen high school freshmen (and -women) smarter than that!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2014 @ 3:58pm

USA is one big joke.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2014 @ 4:08pm

Just another smug, ignorant white man talking down to the brown people of the world, what a surprise, not!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2014 @ 4:25pm

Re:
Read up on Trey Radel, the guy Clawson replaced. Everything will make sense.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dick Cheney (profile), 25 Jul 2014 @ 4:45pm

All it was was a simple mistake
Curt Clawson and I were some of the few people that had downloaded and installed that Chubby Checker. Too bad it's not available any more.

Simply he was fiddling around with it(his phone I hope, he knows there are cameras in there) while the witnesses were introduced, looked up, read the names and was thinking about ordering a new set of size 14's (he only wears a 7 in 2A width, look it up, he he.) to really pump up his stats, when he assumed that any one that brown and not related to Brad and Angelina must be from India.

I've made the same mistake sooooo many times. That is why all my documents are still classified.

Have fun 'yall let me know the next time you are up in Jackson WY we could go hunting.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2014 @ 5:33pm

Oh, our country is soooo fucked. People these fools are the ones you have elected to run our country. THIMK (not a typo) before you vote!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
scotts13 (profile), 25 Jul 2014 @ 5:50pm

Anyone can make a mistake
Even people who we supposedly all selected NOT TO make mistakes. But it takes a special kind of fool to make fatuous and self-service comments based on that mistake.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2014 @ 8:03pm

Re: All it was was a simple mistake
Don't forget to tell me 'go f*ck yourself!'
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Curt Clawson, 25 Jul 2014 @ 10:37pm

Hi,

My name is Curt Clawson and I demand that this video be taken down immediately! I've spoken briefly with my European counterparts (at least I *think* they were European -- it's hard to tell these days), and they've told me I have a constitutional right to be forgotten (or something like that).

Be reasonable, Techgoogle! You've already taken down articles about convicted pedophiles and shady politicians, so you shouldn't have a problem removing something really embarrassing, like this video. I mean, I can't make you unsee my provincial little blooper, but I can sure try!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Jul 2014 @ 7:48am

Re:
Yup, where everyone is the same.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Jul 2014 @ 9:34am

Re:
Don't blame me, I voted for Kudos.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Deri, 26 Jul 2014 @ 8:48pm

A congressman without a clue.
A congressman without a clue. Are we surprised? He owes both of those people a profound apology.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Spaceman Spiff (profile), 27 Jul 2014 @ 6:10am

IQ Test?
Isn't there an IQ test to determine if someone is smart enough to be a Congressperson (or allowed to serve in government in any capacity)?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Jul 2014 @ 6:46pm

Well…
He's a bald, condescending white man, with a very ethnic name. How do we know he's not an agent of the British government?
[ link to this | view in thread ]