Since the dawn of the C-SPAN era, members of Congress have used the ever-present cameras to their advantage: for fundraising, for television ads, for testimonials on their websites.
But the flip side of that is those same cameras catch some scenes no elected member would like to have out in the public domain: flippant statements, mental flubs or, as Senator Dan Coats, an Indiana Republican, found out this week, wandering into the wrong hearing and asking off topic questions.
Let the record show: Congress can be incredibly whacky, as these videos prove.
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