House Approves Trump Impeachment Inquiry Rules Mostly Along Party Lines
President Donald Trump: “The Greatest With Hunt in American History!”
The U.S. House of Representatives approved impeachment inquiry rules against President Donald Trump this morning.
The resolution passed 232-196, mostly along party lines. Democratic Reps. Colin Peterson (MN) and Jeff Van Drew (NJ), who represent swing-districts, voted against the resolution. New Independent Rep. Justin Amash (MI) voted for it.
The resolution allows the House Intelligence, Ways and Means, Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, and Judiciary Committees to continue their investigations.
From The Wall Street Journal:
The resolution approved Thursday morning sets out a road map for the probe and will make the investigation more public, though there is no time frame given for when that will happen. The resolution authorizes the House Intelligence Committee to release transcripts from past interviews and gives more power to Republicans, including the right to call witnesses—though those requests are subject to approval by Democrats.
“The House is a separate and coequal branch of government,” said Democratic Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.). “We have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch.”
Trump and his counsel may attend all the hearings. They will also have the ability to “cross-examine witnesses and make closing presentations,” but only when the House Judiciary Committee receives the inquiry.
Trump’s administration lashed out at the rules because he does not have “these rights while the investigation is run by the Intelligence Committee.”
Trump responded on Twitter:
The Impeachment Hoax is hurting our Stock Market. The Do Nothing Democrats don’t care!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2019
The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2019
Republicans also criticized the new rules despite Pelosi giving in to their demands. They claim the new “rules still limit their authority – including requiring the consent of Democratic chairs to subpoena witnesses.” From Fox News:
The Democrats’ resolution specifies that Republicans in the minority on the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees will have the authority, with the concurrence of committee chairs in the majority, to subpoena witnesses and compel their testimony.
If the chair does not consent, the minority can appeal to the full committee. It is common in other proceedings for committee chairs to essentially have veto authority over subpoenas sought by ranking minority members.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), who introduced the resolution, insisted the resolution rules “are the same as those under the impeachments of both Presidents of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.”
Despite McGovern’s assurance, “the Judiciary Committee handles impeachment proceedings, not the intelligence panel.” The Democrats also chose to launch their impeachment investigations before holding a House vote. That has never happened before.
Republicans repeatedly called it a sham:
“Trying to put a ribbon on a sham process doesn’t make it any less of a sham,” Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who is the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said.
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“The White House counsel would be shut out of this process,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, of Texas, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
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“This impeachment process is a total sham and this resolution that seeks to legitimize it misleads the American public,” said Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., a member of the Rules Committee.
Reactions
Everyone has thoughts on the resolution.
House Democrats can’t fix the tainted record of their secretive impeachment efforts by suddenly pretending that they’re now opening them up. pic.twitter.com/HSmcd0AWD3
— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) October 31, 2019
The Soviet-style impeachment resolution does nothing to change how the Democrats have corrupted, tainted, & destroyed the process for weeks in secret, keeping information from 75% of Members of Congress, & most importantly from the American people.
— Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) October 31, 2019
A completely partisan impeachment rules vote today tells you all you need to know about why the #katiehill story is so important & why the left has worked so hard to kill it. The House is gonna flip in 2020 and they know it.
— Kira Day-of-Deadvis (@RealKiraDavis) October 31, 2019
Nancy Pelosi said she would only support impeachment if it was “bipartisan.”
Today, there was a bipartisan vote AGAINST the Democrats impeachment sham.
Impeachment doesn’t even meet her own standard! pic.twitter.com/VVf8JYOuLZ
— Trump War Room (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TrumpWarRoom) October 31, 2019
Pelosi’s disgraceful “impeachment” farce is just a Squirrel! pic.twitter.com/yhjDGhvBcN
— Adam Baldwin (@AdamBaldwin) October 31, 2019
House of Representatives passes Pelosi's impeachment resolution 232-196.
2 Democrats voted against.
0 Republicans voted in favor.
1 Independent (Justin Amash) voted in favor.
So, bipartisan opposition. Strictly partisan support.
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) October 31, 2019
BREAKING ⇒ 100% of Republicans just voted AGAINST this sham impeachment. Two Democrats joined us.
Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Schiff have both insisted that impeachment should be bipartisan. The only bipartisan vote today was AGAINST impeachment.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) October 31, 2019
Democrats are fixated on removing our duly elected President from office by any means necessary, and today I voted a resounding NO on their attempt to legitimize this sham impeachment inquiry. My full statement below: https://t.co/fOTyO57cMI
— Rep. Roger Williams (@RepRWilliams) October 31, 2019
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Comments
The Democrats keep their people in line far better then the Republicans. Just look at Carlos Delecto Romney.
But not a single Republican voted to approve the bill, so talking about Mittens isn’t relevant to this vote, though it certainly is applicable to the ability to corral party members to toe the party line.
If an impeachment is not overwhelmingly bipartisan, it is a coup, at least an attempt by the House. This vote was no surprise.
The GOP should strike back by voting to change the Impeachment rules in the Senate – Specifically allowing the Senate to call witnesses and put them under oath.
If I understand the process, they already can – just like any other trial. Of course, they could just change the rules to only allow the defense to call witnesses and refuse to allow the prosecution to question them, more or less like the House is conducting their inquiry……
This is about the House and the MSM meddling in the 2020 elections to a degree that the Russians, Ukrainians, Facebook and Google would be envious of. We look incredibly stupid as a country in the eyes of the world.
You’re right. Most of the rest of the world can’t figure out why Trump doesn’t just throw all of them in jail awaiting execution.
adam schiff and nancy pelosi are trying to hide/protect decades of government corruption. They’re losing.
I believe the Constitution gives the House majority leeway to conduct impeachment any way they like. They don’t have to honor precedents or due process or allow any kind of fair process for the accused.
But the result of a biased, unfair process such as they have implemented will be an impeachment that the public sees as a partisan attempt to overturn an election. The MSM will do their best to paint a picture of a fair process, but most people have the intelligence to realize that’s not the case.
The other result of a biased process will be that the Senate does not have to take the impeachment as seriously as they would for a bipartisan process. They should be able to dispose of the matter quickly and easily. Or alternatively, they could call witnesses and bring out the facts that the Dems hid during their process.
Not being a lawyer, I don’t have a lot of experience in these areas, but it appears that Schiff, an ex-prosecutor, is trying to mimic the grand jury process – and in so doing, is demonstrating for all to see just how unfair and biased a system that is. No wonder they brag that they can indict a ham sandwich.
Not to mention, Impeachment in the House is *not* a grand jury investigation, it is a function of the House of Representatives, and as such should be conducted in public with all of the rights typically given to defendants, as the last two have been.
John Q and Jane Public likely would see this as a partisan witch hunt if the MSM actually allows them to see the facts. IF John and Jane do not access other news sources, they may not have any clue what is going on. Most are not paying a lot of attention to politics now, and won’t for another ten months or so.
Should congress send articles of impeachment to the Senate, they should immediately call and put adam schiff under oath to determine the validity of his process. If he lies (will be easy to prove) or refuses to answer a question, hold him in contempt and immediately hold an up or down vote on removal. If there are not 67 Ayes, I would boot adam schiff out of the Senate on his a$$. If schiff is stupid enough to answer truthfully, it will be proven the ‘whistleleaker” was a coordinated, illegal strategy to remove the President of the United States. This is so, so bad for the Democrats, they never anticipated PDJT releasing the transcript and the partisan spy blowers complaint. ANd they damn sure didn’t think she would lose.
So much for elections bringing about a peaceful change of power.
That’s from the days when we were governed by the Constitution, not the Communist Manifesto.
It’s still peaceful – so far. How far they are willing and able to push it might be the determining factor as to whether it remains peaceful.
No, it’s not. When thugs wait outside a Trump rally to harm Trump supporters we already have a violent action.
Trump and his counsel may attend all the hearings.
Whatever for? The trial isn’t in the House, it’s in the Senate.
These sham hearings are not necessary for impeachment. The House can flip a coin to decide if it wants to impeach or not. But nothing happens until the House votes on it. All this poncing-about in various committees advance impeachment not an inch. They’re stalling, as has been obvious all along. It’s hardly in DJT’s interest to help the D’rats keep the stall going by participating in the circus act.
The dems have gone too far to stop the process … they’d lose face. At this point, they have to follow through.
They can still stall in the hope that something happens—either something which might improve their chances of successful removal, or something which will allow them to quietly drop the whole thing.
They also have to keep going because they perpetrated Spygate. They need sham impeachment to be able to squeal “political retaliation’ when the FISA report drops and Spygate criminals are indicted.
Having listened to some Socialist-Democrats spewing the Party justifications of the need for an “Impeachment Inquiry”, I’m left wondering if they really believe the male bovine excrement they are feeding us*. I have to say I’m really impressed with the sociopathy on display when they open their pie hole and they spew what they know is pure Bravo Sierra or, alternatively, I’m dismayed at how stupid these elected Socialist-Democrats are (and worse yet how stupid their constituents are to vote for them) to believe this crap.
* If, indeed, we are the target and it isn’t simply an attempt to scare the always ready to be afraid Republicans into running from the battle. Multiple retirements recently announced might indicate it is working. Haven’t looked into which Republicans are retiring to see if it is only those pushing 80, or a significantly younger group.
My guess, those Republicans were given the message: “If you participated in a single instance of corruption, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. We’ll be in touch when the indictments are unsealed.
If one or two Republicans had defected and voted with the Democrats, it would have been a “bipartisan call for impeachment”. Does it therefore also follow that a couple of Democrats voting against the rules constitute a bipartisan call to drop the whole thing?
When it is exclusively one party that votes for something, with zero support from the other party, it can not be presented as bipartisan.
I hope any time Schiff goes out in public he is spit at. That he is treated as the left has been treating Trump’s people. Nancy should get the same treatment, as she is the face of “leadership” for this coup. This is her legacy now.
This is disgusting. And it has been worked on by Obama since before he left office.
We knew it was going to happen, as there is no stopping their attempt to overturn an election, but actions have consequences, and they should be dealt with negatively by all Republicans.
Trump should change the venue for the SOTU address and Nancy and Schiff and Nadler are not allowed to attend. They made new rules, so should the POTUS. They are pushing Civil war, let them reap what they have sown.
Total sham. The entire Ukraine narrative is to bury the Biden payola scam that he and his son engaged in. This is a comment from Ace of Spades I found interesting and concise:
NSC Official Tom Morrison, Who Listened In on Ukraine Call: Nothing I Heard Was Illegal or Suspicious
—Ace of Spades
Weird that Adam Schiff didn’t leak this, and that the fake news media isn’t reporting it.
A top National Security Council (NSC) official who listened to President Donald Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky testified to Congress today that he did not believe Trump had discussed anything illegal during the conversation.
“I want to be clear, I was not concerned that anything illegal was discussed,” former NSC Senior Director for European Affairs Tim Morrison testified today, according to a record of his remarks obtained by The Federalist.
Let me break a little news myself:
A source with knowledge of the testimony in these fake impeachment hearings tells me that there were four professional transcribers who were listening in on the call, for purposes of preparing a written transcript. The four people wrote down what they each heard, then brought their transcriptions together, harmonized them, and decided as a group what the best transcript of the call was.
They all agreed on the transcript that Trump released.
Now, they specifically refute Vindman’s claim that there were Secret Messages during that phone call that were not included in the transcript. Vindman kept attempting to change the transcript, or add his notes of whatever auditory hallucination his Deep State pals told him that he heard, and the four transcribers kept rejecting them, saying “that wasn’t said” or “none of us heard that” or the like.
All four of them denied this.
All four.
Here
As I understand:
– Republican committee ranking members have the right to subpoena witnesses… unless the Democrat chair objects (which they will)
– The Republican committee ranking member may appeal this denial to the full committee… at which point it will be denied again.
– Likewise, the power to ask questions of witnesses, object to actions taken by the majority which are clearly in violation of the rules, allow witnesses to retain counsel, et al… Every one of these can be overruled with a wave of the hand from the Democrat in charge of any committee.
It’s not a witch hunt. It’s a railroad.
We used to call this ‘polishing a turd.’
Snakes.
It is a very simple thing to deal with. Send a letter to all congressmen, House and Senate and state that under no circumstances will the executive branch contribute or respond to any and all requests for information, interviews or subpoenas without a court hearing and resulting in an accompanying court order.
Send a letter to ALL employees of the executive branch that they are not to talk to or give any information to congress without explicit white house approval. Failure to follow this will result in the immediate relocation of your position to North Shore Alaska.
Amash really is coo coo for coco puffs isn’t he?
No, he just has ulterior motives, His family moved all the production on the tools they make to china. These duties have to be killing him.
Democrat “congress” people = TIME WASTERS
Nancy Pee-lousy should go BACK TO CALIFORNIA and help turn the POWER back on! (for starters)…
Meanwhile, the Repubs and the White House are preparing for massive censorship via social media.
Read all the way to the bottom.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/westwingreads/
Be funny to see Durham and Barr issue arrest warrants for schiff and the others followed by perp walks.
If the Democrats want their fake impeachment hearings secret, Trump should honor that request by classifying everything coming out of them. And then have the DoJ go after and prosecute any leaks.