Oh, this is delightful:

“Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) quickly whipped out his cell phone and began talking into it, even though his home screen was visible and there was no call in progress.” https://t.co/sU43LuA0Se

— Al Weaver (@alweaver22) November 15, 2019

“Even Republicans admitted it was problematic for the president to be criticizing the witness, a respected career diplomat, at the same time she was testifying against him. Still, none would directly criticize the president, and many avoided questions about the tweet altogether.

“It’s not something I would do,” Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters during a break from the hearing.

Asked if it amounted to witness intimidation, Conaway did not offer a direct answer: “I’m not a lawyer, I’m not familiar with it, but it’s just not something I would do. It’s just not my style.”

Several Republicans on the Intelligence Committee dodged the topic entirely. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) refused to answer questions about the tweets as he ducked on to the House floor, while Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) quickly whipped out his cell phone and began talking into it, even though his home screen was visible and there was no call in progress.”

Oh please, oh please, let there be video of this that can be spread across the evening news and the internets.