Before the Comedy Central comedian launched into his joke-filled testimony, Conyers said he couldn’t remember when a hearing drew such a crowd. California Democrat Zoe Lofgren guessed it might have been for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

But then Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, asked Colbert to leave the room, saying: "You run your show, we run the committee."

Colbert, who recently spent a day picking vegetables on a farm in New York, said he was there at the invitation of subcommittee chairman Lofgren. Lofgren signaled that he should stay.

Conyers later withdrew his request.