A top House Democrat at a contentious hearing Thursday brought posters referring to "guilty" associates of President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE who have been implicated in special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

As Rep. Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene CummingsBlack GOP candidate accuses Behar of wearing black face in heated interview Overnight Health Care: US won't join global coronavirus vaccine initiative | Federal panel lays out initial priorities for COVID-19 vaccine distribution | NIH panel: 'Insufficient data' to show treatment touted by Trump works House Oversight Democrats to subpoena AbbVie in drug pricing probe MORE (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, delivered his opening remarks, aides displayed poster boards to highlight the guilty pleas Mueller has obtained in his ongoing probe.

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Republicans briefly objected to the visual aids. “Cite the rule,” Democrats said, and Cummings was ultimately allowed to proceed.

“There has been one obvious development,” Cummings said. “The special counsel has now obtained five guilty pleas and indicted 18 others, including some of President Trump’s closest advisers.”

The posters displayed photos of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former Trump campaign aide Richard Gates, former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George PapadopoulosGeorge Demetrios PapadopoulosTale of two FBI cases: Clinton got warned, Trump got investigated Trump says he would consider pardons for those implicated in Mueller investigation New FBI document confirms the Trump campaign was investigated without justification MORE, Dutch attorney Alex van der Zwaan and Richard Pinedo, a California man who sold bank numbers to Russian individuals implicated in Mueller’s probe.

Republicans on the House Judiciary and the House Oversight committees called the hearing to grill FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok on text messages he sent expressing criticism of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential race.

GOP lawmakers allege that the messages written by Strzok — a former member of Mueller’s investigative team who also worked on the Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonDemocratic groups using Bloomberg money to launch M in Spanish language ads in Florida The Hill's Campaign Report: Presidential polls tighten weeks out from Election Day More than 50 Latino faith leaders endorse Biden MORE email probe — are evidence of anti-Trump bias at the FBI. Democrats, meanwhile, accuse Republicans of undertaking a politically motivated charade to discredit Mueller's probe.

Mueller removed Strzok from the Russia investigation earlier this year after a Justice Department inspector general investigation uncovered the text messages.