Video of old Senate committee hearing is sensationalized, and mischaracterized, on social media

There’s no crying in U.S. Senate committee hearings. At least, there’s no crying depicted in footage of a 2021 hearing recently shared on social media, despite a Facebook post’s claims. 

"THE IG IS CORRUPT’ Garland’s witness CRIES to Josh Hawley for ‘no JAILTIME’ after shows ‘witchhunt,’" the caption on the July 9 post says, using the abbreviation for inspector general. 

It was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The footage in the post is from an Oct. 21, 2021, Senate Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Committee hearing. The gathering lasted for more than two hours, but this particular clip — nearly 12 minutes long — shows Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questioning Allison Lerner, chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, an independent body within the executive branch.

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The hearing focused on the independence of federal inspectors general, whose goals are to combat waste, fraud and abuse within their agencies.

Hawley asked Lerner about allegations of misconduct by Department of Homeland Security employees, but he never said "the IG is corrupt," nor did Lerner raise the prospect of jail.

We rate claims that she cried to Hawley for no jail time False.