Schiff: Panel to press ahead with impeachment report
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday that his panel will press ahead with its impeachment report even though key witnesses have not testified, in the latest signal that Democrats are moving swiftly in their probe of President Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to pressure Ukraine.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Schiff said the evidence against Trump is “already overwhelming,” although he stopped short of saying whether he would support impeachment himself.
“Yes, we’d love to have these witnesses come in,” Schiff said. “But we’re not willing to simply allow them to wait us out — to stall this proceeding — when the facts are already overwhelming.”
Democrats are seeking to prove Trump leveraged military assistance and an Oval Office meeting in exchange for investigations of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden and a debunked theory concerning purported Ukrainian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Several key figures, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former national security adviser John Bolton and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, have declined to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.
A federal judge is expected to rule Monday on whether former White House counsel Donald McGahn must testify under subpoena.
Some have argued that Democrats should litigate the matter in the courts to force more witnesses to testify. But Schiff said Sunday that time is of the essence and that Democrats will continue to investigate even after they have submitted their report to the House Judiciary Committee.
“The investigation isn’t going to end,” he said, adding that “we may have other depositions and hearings to do.”
He took aim at Bolton, arguing that the former national security adviser will have to explain why he chose to give his account of events “in a book” rather than show the “courage” that Fiona Hill, the former
National Security Council Russia adviser, did in testifying before lawmakers last week.
Schiff declined to say how long it might take impeachment investigators to finish their report, saying “we’ll take the time that’s necessary.”
Trump, meanwhile, continued to take aim at Democrats, saying in a tweet on Sunday that they “are not getting important legislation done” because of the impeachment inquiry.
“USMCA, National Defense Authorization Act, Gun Safety, Prescription Drug Prices, & Infrastructure are dead in the water because of the Dems!” Trump said, referring to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and other matters.
Trump also claimed public opinion has “turned very strongly against Impeachment, especially in swing states,” though national polls have shown that public sentiment has remained stable.
According to an NPRPBS-Marist poll, 49 percent of respondents supported removing Trump from office in mid-November, up from 48 percent in early October in another NPRPBS-Marist poll.