Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty criticized Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg after he failed to answer multiple questions related to civil rights and diversity at Facebook.

Facebook is facing a federal lawsuit for violating fair housing laws, and the company has had its own internal struggles with diversity.

Beatty said Zuckerberg's lack of knowledge was "appalling and disgusting" after was unable to identify the firm Facebook had hired to advise on civil rights matters.

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Rep. Joyce Beatty called Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's approach to civil rights and diversity "appalling and disgusting" during Zuckerberg's testimony with the House of Representatives' Housing and Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

Though much of the discussion was focused on Facebook's plans to launch a new cryptocurrency called Libra, Beatty took Zuckerberg to task for the company's lack of diversity and ongoing housing discrimination lawsuit.

Beatty is the vice-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and said she has met with Facebook several times in the past year to discuss the company's approach to diversity and inclusion. In March, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development sued Facebook, claiming it was allowing realtors to exclude people of specific race, gender, and background from targeted housing advertisements.

Speaking during the committee meeting on Wednesday, Beatty said that Facebook has $46 billion in cash and securities, but none of its funds are handled by companies with diverse ownership, and said the company does not contract legal firms with diverse ownership either.

The congresswoman suggested that Facebook could have avoided violating federal housing policies if the company's management had been more diverse.

"You should have known better, and maybe if you had real diversity or inclusion on your team, somebody in that room would have said, when you looked at what you were doing in the housing, how you are red lining or using zip codes to eliminate people from getting information," Beatty said.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services Committee. Mandel Ngan/Getty Images

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Zuckerberg struggled to answer multiple questions on Facebook's internal civil rights initiatives and the company's approach to diversity. Beatty specifically asked if Zuckerberg had reviewed materials related to diverse asset management that were sent to Facebook prior to Zuckerberg's testimony, and asked if he had read the civil rights audit that Facebook commissioned from civil rights advocate Laura Murphy.

When asked who was on Facebook's civil rights task force, Zuckerberg led with Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, but Beatty pushed for Zuckerberg to name someone more involved with civil rights causes.

"She's your COO, and I don't think there's anything — and I know Sheryl well — about civil rights in her background," Beatty said. "So come better than that for me, if we're going to talk civil rights."

Zuckerberg did not name another member of the team, and when asked which firm Facebook had hired to advise the company on civil rights matters, Zuckerberg again struggled to identify the firm. Facebook hired Relman Dane & Colfax, along with Murphy, to conduct a civil rights audit in May 2018.

"How could you not know, when you have employed the most historical, the largest civil rights firm to deal with issues that are major?" Beatty said. "And this is what's so frustrating to me, it's like you think it's a joke, when you have ruined the lives of many people, discriminated against them."

Beatty continued to criticize Zuckerberg's lack of knowledge on matters involving civil rights and diversity on Facebook, and said she would send follow-up questions to Facebook after Zuckerberg's testimony was over.

"Maybe you just don't read a lot of things that have to do with civil rights, or African Americans," Beatty said. "I have a lot of questions that I'm going to send to you that I'm not going to be able to get through, and I would like an answer — because this is appalling and disgusting to me."