Democrats introduced a resolution Tuesday to finally authorize their impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump … sort of.
For weeks, Republicans have accused Democrats of running an illegitimate “sham” process by refusing to open up the inquiry to Republicans with a formal vote. Pelosi appeared to reverse course Monday, saying that Democrats would finally hold that vote this week to establish rules — but already, Democrats are walking things back.
Democrats may not hold the vote Thursday, as initially promised, and they’re refraining from calling it an “impeachment resolution.” Meanwhile, Republicans are saying that the resolution doesn’t go far enough to protect President Trump’s rights.
Democrats introduce resolution on impeachment rules
Republicans have for weeks accused Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) of running a one-sided “Soviet-style” hearing consisting of secretive, closed-door hearings in the Capitol basement. Democrats responded by saying that Republicans are targeting the process because they can’t defend the substance of Trump’s phone call with Ukraine.
By giving Republicans what they want, Pelosi’s resolution appeared calculated to quash Republican grievances with the process itself. Except it does not appear that Pelosi’s move is a cut-and-dry resolution to “open up” the process, and Republicans are already complaining that it does little to alter the opaque nature of the unilaterally launched inquiry.
Pelosi said Monday that the vote is “not an impeachment resolution” and her number two in the House, Steny Hoyer (D-MD) affirmed that statement, saying, “I don’t know what an impeachment resolution is.” He echoed what Democrats have been insisting for weeks: that they are not required by the Constitution or House rules to hold an impeachment vote. Hoyer said that the vote may not even happen Thursday, and that its purpose is to “address the process” of ending Schiff’s closed-door depositions and bring the inquiry “into a phase when we have public hearings.”
The hedging calls into question what exactly Pelosi’s “resolution” means for the impeachment and the rights of President Trump. The resolution would allow ranking Republicans on the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees to call witnesses, in an apparent concession to White House demands, and it grants Republicans equal time to question witnesses in “open” hearings led by Schiff’s Intelligence panel.
But it affirms at the same time that the “inquiry” is an “existing” process, a clear nod to the Democrats’ conviction that the inquiry is already legitimate. After the public hearings, Schiff’s Intelligence panel will write up a report in coordination with other committees for the Judiciary panel, which will weigh articles of impeachment.
Dems won’t call it an “impeachment resolution”
Pelosi had initially said Monday that the resolution establishes the “procedure for hearings that are open to the American people, authorizes the disclosure of deposition transcripts, outlines procedures to transfer evidence to the Judiciary Committee as it considers potential articles of impeachment, and sets forth due process rights for the President and his Counsel.” By refusing to call the resolution an “impeachment vote,” though, Pelosi still appears worried about how impeachment will affect vulnerable Democrats in swing districts.
Republicans swiftly responded to Pelosi’s reversal by calling it a concession that her inquiry was never legitimate in the first place. They added that the vote is too little, too late, since Democrats have already gathered evidence against President Trump in a process lacking transparency. Tuesday’s resolution does little to change the status quo, according to the White House and Trump’s Republican allies.
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that the resolution denies Trump “basic rights” and makes Schiff a “de facto special prosecutor,” whereas the White House said it’s unclear on the president’s legal protections. Significantly, the resolution directs public hearings to be led by Schiff’s Intelligence panel, rather than the Judiciary committee, in a break with historical precedent that could jeopardize the president’s rights, Fox reported.
White House: It’s been a “sham from the start”
“The resolution put forward by Speaker Pelosi confirms that House Democrats’ impeachment has been an illegitimate sham from the start as it lacked any proper authorization by a House vote,” the White House said in a statement. “It continues this scam by allowing Chairman Schiff, who repeatedly lies to the American people, to hold a new round of hearings, still without any due process for the President.”
No comments: