Sen. Dan Coats was all mixed up this week.
The Indiana Republican realized he was in the wrong hearing on Wednesday afternoon after he'd already settled into his seat, NBC News reported.
Coats mistakenly attended an appropriations subcommittee meeting, but didn't notice at first.
He sat down, glanced through some papers, and then turned to a witness in the room to thank them for quickly responding to a note he'd previously delivered concerning a military accounting office in Indiana.
Coats then began his presentation with a lengthy question directed at Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David Cohen. Unfortunately, Cohen was not the person Coats had originally intended would be on the receiving end of the query.
Coats was under the impression he was talking to Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Mike McCord, who was actually at a completely separate hearing at the time.
An aide in the room rushed over to Coats and slid him a slip of paper.
The senator paused, looked down and chuckled.
"I just got a note saying I'm at the wrong hearing," he said.
"Well, that would explain why I didn't know anything about this letter," Cohen replied.
Coats stated that this was the first time he'd ever mistakenly gone to a hearing.
"I hope it's not a precursor of what may come," he joked.
Coats later tweeted about the mix-up with a sly nod toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sanctioned the Indiana Senator in March.
"I think the Russians have been messing with my schedule," Coats posted on Wednesday.
I think the Russians have been messing with my schedule. But I never miss a chance to tout IN’s talented workforce https://t.co/uV0h5nnZXI
— Senator Dan Coats (@SenDanCoats) April 3, 2014
