Lest the world be allowed to simply forget about the Tuesday video that appeared to show Representative Joe Garcia picking his ear and then eating what he found during a House Judiciary Committee meeting, the Florida Democrat took to Twitter to defend himself. Come, let’s all spend a little more time contemplating the various things this congressman sloughs off his body.

Garcia claims that he was not ingesting his own earwax, but merely using his teeth to get rid of a hangnail on a finger immediately after sticking said finger in his ear:

My mom always told me to keep my fingers out of my mouth, and now I know why. #hangnail #ithappens #camerasrolling — Rep. Joe Garcia (@RepJoeGarcia) May 13, 2014

Those damn hangnails, they'll get you every time #perceptioniseverything — Rep. Joe Garcia (@RepJoeGarcia) May 13, 2014

And here’s the footage again:

So, sure, it’s entirely possible that Garcia did not intentionally swallow the contents of his ear, but some of the stuff certainly made it into his mouth when he was dealing with his nail. Here’s the lesson from this revolting episode: Unless they want to cause others to gag on their breakfasts, congressmen (and people) are only permitted to publicly indulge in one bad habit at a time.