Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezOn The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline McCarthy says there will be a peaceful transition if Biden wins Anxious Democrats amp up pressure for vote on COVID-19 aid MORE (D-N.Y.) hit back Thursday after Rep. Alex Mooney Alexander (Alex) Xavier MooneyHouse GOP lawmakers urge Senate to confirm Vought Overnight Defense: House passes bills to rein in Trump on Iran | Pentagon seeks Iraq's permission to deploy missile defenses | Roberts refuses to read Paul question on whistleblower during impeachment trial Here are the lawmakers who defected on Iran legislation MORE (R-W.Va.) accused her of supporting “Soviet style secret hearings in the Capitol basement.”

Mooney accused Ocasio-Cortez of not supporting “Open and Transparent government” after she noted that many of the group of Republican representatives who disrupted a House deposition in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility were members of the committee and thus would know electronic devices were not allowed in the room.

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“Rep. Mooney, you & I both know that when a massive crime is committed, the 1st step is to separate witnesses & get their stories to see what adds up,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response. “You know that making these depositions public will help potential criminals line up their testimony. Why do you want to do that?”

Rep. Mooney, you & I both know that when a massive crime is committed, the 1st step is to separate witnesses & get their stories to see what adds up.



You know that making these depositions public will help potential criminals line up their testimony.



Why do you want to do that? https://t.co/PvIPHTah2V — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 24, 2019

Mooney was one of the nearly two dozen GOP representatives involved in the action, which was led by Rep. Matt Gaetz Matthew (Matt) GaetzTrump faces tricky choice on Supreme Court pick Florida attorney general scrutinizing Bloomberg paying fines for felons to vote Lara Trump campaigns with far-right activist candidate Laura Loomer in Florida MORE (R-Fla.), one of President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE’s most vocal defenders in the House.

Republicans, including those who entered the SCIF Wednesday, have raised objections to the number of closed-door hearings conducted by the House as part of its impeachment inquiry, while Democrats have invoked the possibility of coordinated testimony if the hearings were open to the public.

However, mindful of the threat of further disruptions, House Democrats are considering taking the hearings public as early as mid-November, according to a Washington Post report Wednesday evening.

“It’s going to be the difference between reading a dry transcript and actually hearing the story from the people who were in the room,” Rep. Jim Himes James (Jim) Andres HimesMany Democrats want John Bolton's testimony, but Pelosi stays mum SEC's Clayton demurs on firing of Manhattan US attorney he would replace Democrats face tough questions with Bolton MORE (D-Conn.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, told the Post.

“I think the story needs to be told, you know, the story of the abuse of power. ... People like the various ambassadors who have come to testify need to come tell it,” he added.