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Facebook posts
stated on March 6, 2023 in a Facebook post:

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley made U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland cry at a committee hearing.

False

No, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley didn’t make U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland cry in committee hearing

If your time is short

  • Video footage from this Senate Judiciary Committee hearing shows that U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., didn’t make U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland cry.
 
See the sources for this fact-check

On March 1, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing about oversight of the Justice Department. 

Among the committee members to question Garland was Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who — in his own words — “grilled” Garland. But he didn’t make him cry, as a recent Facebook post claims. 

“WATCH: Josh Hawley makes Garland CRIES loud at hearing with SH0.CKING reveal over ‘Trump’s r.aid,” reads an oddly punctuated and grammatically incorrect March 6 Facebook post caption. 

A video clip of the hearing in the Facebook post is wrongly labeled “March 5, 2023.” 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook.)

In the original video, which interested viewers can watch in full on C-SPAN’s website, Garland neither weeps nor shouts, depending on your interpretation of the word “cry.” 

Rather, Hawley asks Garland about a March 1 Washington Post article that described months of disputes between FBI agents and prosecutors over how to best recover classified documents from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. 

Early in the clip in the Facebook post, Hawley’s time to speak expires, and the attorney general is then questioned by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

Neither of these senators made Garland cry, either. 

We rate this post False.

 
Our Sources

No, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley didn’t make U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland cry in committee hearing

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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stated on January 14, 2026 a statement

Social Media
stated on February 14, 2026 social media posts



stated on January 20, 2026 an op-ed


Donald Trump
stated on February 3, 2026 remarks in the Oval Office


Social Media
stated on February 8, 2026 social media posts





Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
stated on stated on November 17, 2025 in remarks at George Washington University:

Donald Trump
stated on February 2, 2026 an interview with Dan Bongino