Swamp Monsters Emerge On Camera During Trump Nominees Confirmation Hearing

Confirmation hearings have quickly become a prime target of protesters during President Donald Trump s time in office, with frustrated voters confronting lawmakers in the corridors of Congress or occasionally dressing up like a Monopoly man . On Thursday, some new creatures emerged during a hearing for Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt : a knot of swamp monsters hovering over the officials shoulder.

Several protesters donning bright green masks positioned themselves around the room as part of a demonstration by environmental groups, including the Clean Water Fund, Environment America, Public Citizen and Greenpeace. Bernhardt was nominated by Trump to lead the Department of the Interior in February after former secretary Ryan Zinke resigned amid several ethics investigations.

But Bernhardt has faced many of the same criticisms lobbed at both Zinke and former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt . Bernhardt is a former oil and gas lobbyist who has been touted as a political workhorse behind conservative environmental policies.

Greenpeace said it helped arranged the monsters on Thursday in protest of Bernhardts history of working to help corporate polluters get their hands on public lands.

Trump campaigned hard on the idea of draining the swamp, Greenpeace wrote on Twitter. As we know, hes done the exact opposite and Bernhardt might be the most blatant example of that. We dont call him a walking conflict of interest for nothing.

(7) It couldn't be any more clear that David Bernhardt should be the LAST person to overlook America's public lands, water and wildlife. YOU can still #StopBernhardt by calling your Senator at 1-213-335-2077 & telling them to reject Bernhardts confirmation! pic.twitter.com/PkBV6jPXA1

Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) March 28, 2019","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Greenpeace USA","author_url":"https://twitter.com/greenpeaceusa","cache_age":86400,"description":"(7) It couldn't be any more clear that David Bernhardt should be the LAST person to overlook America's public lands, water and wildlife. 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(7) It couldn't be any more clear that David Bernhardt should be the LAST person to overlook America's public lands, water and wildlife. YOU can still #StopBernhardt by calling your Senator at 1-213-335-2077 & telling them to reject Bernhardts confirmation! pic.twitter.com/PkBV6jPXA1
Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) March 28, 2019

Irene Kim, a Greenpeace employee who was sitting just behind Bernhardts shoulder, said later Thursday she was asked to leave the hearing despite making efforts to stay quiet (although she was allowed to remain in the room for nearly two hours). Kim said she had lined up at 7 a.m. to get into the event with a colleague and chose to put on the mask when she saw on Twitter that she had appeared on C-SPANs footage .

Our purpose was not to disrupt the hearing, it was really to bring in absurdity to the hearing, Kim told Bloomberg News. I made every effort to not be a disturbance, I kept my butt glued to my seat, I did not make any noise. I think we inspired a lot of people and made them laugh when its a time of a lot of discouragement right now.

We talked to @Greenpeace activists Adrienne Lowry and @_irenekim_ who went viral for donning swamp creature masks at a confirmation hearing for Trump's nominee to be Interior Secretary pic.twitter.com/zikqTmDIfd

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We talked to @Greenpeace activists Adrienne Lowry and @_irenekim_ who went viral for donning swamp creature masks at a confirmation hearing for Trump's nominee to be Interior Secretary pic.twitter.com/zikqTmDIfd
TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) March 29, 2019

Activists werent the only ones to assail Bernhardt during his hearing. Democrats , including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), lambasted the man as just another corrupt official. The lawmaker pointed to documents published by The New York Times this week that showed Bernhardt had worked to block the release of a scientific report that showed three pesticides were harmful to hundreds of endangered species.

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You asked to come to my office to say your ethics are unimpeachable, Wyden said. But these documents make it look like youre just another corrupt official. Why would you come to my office to lie to me about your ethics?