Late tonight, committee staffers were reported still lining up opening witnesses, with minority Democrats complaining of disarray and uncertainty.

But if an ideologically committed committee staffer can scare off a witness, an important safeguard is missing in Senate rules.

The committee staffers finally put me on the docket for that afternoon.

Duke called one of the committee staffers over and spoke for a few moments.

Dreschler seemed to be in a mild panic, speaking with one of the committee staffers behind her.

I scanned the crowd and found the committee staffer who'd been herding witnesses all week.

Palmeiro made significantly different statements to baseball's arbitrator when he challenged the positive drug test and to committee staffers about how the steroid might have entered his system.

A committee staffer passed out copies of Jake's report and led him through it, page by page, conclusion by conclusion.

In a later draft, it was modestly rewritten by committee staffers in the face of objections from the Administration and Senate Democrats.

According to the Senate report, after the committee hearings Koch operatives delved into the personal lives of committee staffers, even questioning an ex-wife.