GOP CONGRESSMEN STORM IMPEACHMENT DEPOSITION
WASHINGTON — Republicans briefly brought the Democrat-led impeachment investigation to a halt Wednesday when around two dozen GOP House members stormed into a closed-door deposition with a Defense Department official. Democrats said the move compromised national security because some of the Republicans brought electronic devices into a secure room.
The protest by Republican lawmakers captured national attention, drawing the focus away from the testimony of a top U.S. diplomat who told lawmakers just a day earlier that he was told President Donald Trump was withholding military aid from Ukraine unless the country’s president pledged to investigate Democrats.
The maneuver delayed a deposition with Laura Cooper, a senior Defense Department official who oversees Ukraine policy, until midafternoon. The interview began roughly five hours behind schedule and ended after roughly four hours.
As a series of diplomats have been interviewed in the impeachment probe, many Republicans have been silent on the president’s conduct. But they have been outspoken about their disdain for Democrats and the impeachment process, saying it is unfair to them even though they have been in the room questioning witnesses and hearing the testimony.
“The members have just had it, and they want to be able to see and represent their constituents and find out what’s going on,” said Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform panel. That committee is one of three leading the investigation, and its members are allowed into the closed-door hearings.
During the deposition, Cooper answered questions from lawmakers and staffers in response to a subpoena, an official working on the impeachment inquiry said. She explained to lawmakers the process of distributing military aid and was asked whether the appropriate steps were followed on Ukraine, according to a person familiar with the interview.
Biden: Nobody spoke about son’s work
Former Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that “no one ever spoke to me” about his son’s work with a Ukrainian gas company. His remark came in response to comments made by a former State Department official to impeachment investigators last week.
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent said in a closed hearing with lawmakers that he questioned the optics of Hunter Biden’s work but was told Joe Biden couldn’t address the issue because he was dealing with another son’s cancer diagnosis.
Speaking to reporters after in West Point, Iowa, Biden said Kent may have raised the issue with someone else, but no one brought it up to him.
Biden added: “No one ever said I said I didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with it.”