- On Tuesday, House Democrats officially filed a resolution outlining the terms and parameters of the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
- The resolution significantly undercuts many of the Republican criticisms that the inquiry isn’t transparent enough and is denying Trump and the GOP “due process.”
- The resolution enables the House Intelligence Committee to publish redacted transcripts of closed-door depositions and start holding public hearings, with the committee counsel for each side given equal time to question witnesses.
- It also lays out the parameters for the White House’s legal team to participate in hearings by submitting written testimony and responses, physically attending the hearings, and cross-examining witnesses.
On Tuesday, House Democrats officially filed a resolution outlining the terms and parameters of the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, throwing a wrench into many of the Republican criticisms of the impeachment process.
The resolution, H.R. 660, comes a little over a month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally announced that the House Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs committees would be jointly pursuing the impeachment investigation.
It lays out the terms for “open and transparent” impeachment hearings conducted by relevant House committees — and significantly undercuts many of the Republican criticisms of how the inquiry has been conducted.
Specifically, Republicans have charged that the committees are not being transparent by mostly hearing witness testimony and reviewing documents behind closed doors, the process is shutting out Republicans, and the inquiry is denying Trump “due process.”
They have also claimed the process is illegitimate because the full House has not voted to approve an impeachment inquiry, but House Democrats are set to hold a floor vote on the resolution on Thursday.
Last week, 30 House Republicans made their displeasure known by barging into a secure committee room where the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight committees were attempting to depose a Pentagon official behind closed doors.
A total of 46 House Republicans, including 12 who participated in the storming of the sensitive compartmented information facility, sit on one of those three committees and are able to participate in every step of the inquiry, but the resolution gives the minority party even more authority to question witnesses and drive the process.
The House Rules Committee put out a one-page summary describing the key points of the resolution, which aims to:
- “reaffirm” the ongoing investigative work, which some Republicans have dismissed as illegitimate
- increase transparency by authorizing the House Intelligence Committee to publish redacted transcripts of recent depositions
- establish public hearings for witness testimony, with each side’s committee counsel given 45 minutes to question witnesses
- give “the minority the same rights to question witnesses that the majority has,” including subpoena power for Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.
- give Trump and White House counsel staff chances to participate in hearings by submitting written testimony and responses, physically attending the hearings, and cross-examining witnesses, with the caveat that the relevant committees can deny those requests if the White House refuses to cooperate with the inquiry
- vest the power to determine whether articles of impeachment are sent to the full House with the House Judiciary Committee.