Department of Homeland Security Secrtary Kirstjen Nielsen testified before the House Judiciary Committee in a hearing which, at times, got contentious. But one of the less heated moments of the session made news in its own right — because it produced a take which can be classified as nothing short of a head-scratcher.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) defended the DHS practice of migrant family separation at the border by invoking — of all people — former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and special counsel Robert Mueller. What do Manafort and Mueller have to do with family separation at the border? We’ll let Gohmert tell you.

“Parents are separated from children every single day of every year, year after year, when there’s probable cause to believe a parent has committed a crime,” Gohmert said. He added, “Mueller did it — and I know he’s a hero to some folks around here — he did it to Manafort. Separated him from his two beautiful children. It happens.”

Aside from the obvious differences between Manafort’s crimes and the alleged offenses against those who cross the border, we’ll note here that Manafort’s children are 36 and 32 years of age.

Watch above, via CSPAN3.

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