Watch: Judicial Watch President Testifies Before the House Oversight Committee

The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight & Government Reform held its weather-delayed hearing on proposals to reform government transparency laws featuring Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton as a key witness.

Other witnesses included:

• Hudson Hollister, founder and executive director of The Data Coalition
• Norman Singleton, president of Campaign for Liberty
• John Berlau, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute
• Richard Painter, law professor from the University of Minnesota

The hearing, titled “Legislative Proposals for Fostering Transparency,” began at 10:30 a.m. EDT, but the hearing in its entirety can be viewed above. The stated purposes of the hearing were to discuss transparency related to government data, audits and the Freedom of Information Act; and to consider legislative proposals that hold governmental entities more accountable to taxpayers.

While Republicans were focused on transparency reform legislation being considered by the committee, Democrats grilled the panel of witnesses—almost exclusively Painter—with questions about President Donald Trump’s tax returns.

The hearing was originally scheduled to take place during National Sunshine Week, an initiative to promote the importance of open government. The bills being considered by the committee, relative to greater transparency, are:

• Data Act
• Federal Reserve Transparency Act
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Open Records Act of 2017 {eoa}