My friend and former classmate Andrew Grossman was testifying before the House Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial, and Administrative Law. Representative Johnson attacked Andrew, alleging ties between GMU and the Koch Brothers.

Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Grossman, you are a graduate of George Mason University, correct?

Mr. GROSSMAN. Yes.

Mr. JOHNSON. The law school. George Mason University Law School, a public university in Virginia that has received more than $30 million from the Koch brothers. And you are also familiar with the Mercatus Center, which is —

Mr. GROSSMAN. I believe it is Mercatus.

Mr. JOHNSON. Mercatus? Yes, you are familiar with it. And its goal is to deal with how institutions affect the freedom to prosper. That is

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Johnson, would you suspend just for a moment?

Mr. JOHNSON. I will, without waiving any time.

Mr. COBLE. Well, you seem to be going far afield here. If you could confine it to the issue at hand.

Mr. JOHNSON. Well, you know, it goes to the credibility of these three witnesses, all of whom have connections to the Koch brothers, and we have got — I mean, this is not the first hearing where this has happened, where we have had a full monty, lf you will, of Koch brothers-lntluenced lobbyists. And I think you are a lobbyist, too, aren’t you, Mr. Grossman?

Mr. GROSSMAN. No, I am not. And let me add —

Mr. JOHNSON. You are not a registered lobbyist?

Mr. GROSSMAN. No, I am not. I have not engaged in any lobbying activity ever, so far as I am aware.

Mr. JOHNSON. But the Mercatus Institute, you are a product of that?

Mr. GROSSMAN. I have never even set foot in the Mercatus Institute. You are alleging that my connection with the Koch brothers is that I attended a law school

Mr. JOHNSON. Don’t the Koch brothers donate money to George Mason University?

Mr. GROSSMAN. Pardon?

Mr. JOHNSON. Koch brothers donate money to George Mason University?

Mr. GROSSMAN. Who donated money to your university? Beats me.

Mr. JOHNSON. Do they maintain editorial control over what comes out of that university’s think tanks?

Mr. GROSSMAN. I don’t even know what that would mean ln a university setting, and I was a student at the university, rather than an employee or a lobbyist or of its think tanks.

Mr. JOHNSON. Well, you grew up in that environment, and you are a reflection of that environment in your professional role today. And that is the point that I want to make. Thank you. I will yield back.

…

Mr. GROSSMAN. I don’t feel the need to respond directly to baseless ad hominem attacks. I think my work speaks for itself, but thank you.

Andrew handles himself quite well. I suspect I will be subject to such attacks sooner or later.