Impeach plan restricts GOP
Dems must 1st OK subpoenas
The White House and Trump allies in Congress on Tuesday slammed a draft impeachment resolution that would allow GOP Intelligence Committee members to request subpoenas only after they’re voted on by the Democratic-controlled panel.
The eight-page resolution calls for open hearings and states the Intelligence Committee will submit a report on its finding before the Judiciary Committee makes a final recommendation on whether to impeach President Trump.
Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (DCalif.) and Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the ranking Republican, “shall be permitted to question witnesses for equal specified periods of longer than five minutes, as determined by the chair. The time available for each period of questioning under this paragraph shall be equal for the chair and the ranking minority member,” the resolution reads.
Either can also request that committee staffers get a chance to grill the witnesses.
Nunes will be empowered to call witnesses and ask for documents, but only “with the concurrence of the chair.”
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham slammed the resolution, saying it blocks Trump from due process by barring the administration from participating until after two rounds of hearings.
The resolution “confirms that House Democrats’ impeachment has been an illegitimate sham from the start as it lacked any proper authorization by a House vote,” Grisham said.
Rep. Liz Cheney (RWyo.) echoed the criticism, saying Tuesday that Democrats “cooked up a process they have been conducting in secret” with the goal of blocking Trump’s lawyers from questioning witnesses.
The focus of the hearings will be an “inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump,” the resolution states.
The resolution also requires the Intelligence Committee to submit a report outlining its findings and recommendations.
In addition to the Intelligence Committee, the resolution also calls for the committees on Foreign Affairs, Oversight, Financial Services, Ways and Means and Judiciary to continue their ongoing investigation into Trump.
The House Rules Committee scheduled a meeting Wednesday to review the draft and set up a full House vote on it on Thursday.
The impeachment inquiry was sparked by Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he asked that the country open investigations into Joe Biden and his son Hunter as well as into the 2016 election.