RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Impeaching Trump

by Caitlin Yilek, Washington Examiner
November 08, 2019


A transcript of a former National Security Council official’s closed-door testimony revealed how a Republican lawmaker was ejected from the impeachment hearing.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, was present when Fiona Hill began her deposition on Oct. 14. The Republican is not a member of the three committees leading the impeachment investigation into President Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine and was noticed by House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff a few minutes into the hearing.

“Excuse me, could we suspend?” Schiff said, according to the transcript released Friday. “Do we have any members here that are not members of the three committees authorized to be present? Mr. Gaetz, you’re not permitted to be in the room.”

“I’m on the Judiciary Committee,” Gaetz said.

“Judiciary Committee is not a part of this hearing,” Schiff responded.

“I thought the Judiciary Committee Committee had jurisdiction over impeachment,” Gaetz said.

“Mr. Gaetz, you’re not permitted to be in the room. Please leave,” Schiff replied.

“Mr. Chairman, really?” Republican Rep. Jim Jordan interjected.

“Yes, really,” Schiff said.

“You’re going to include members of Congress on committees that have roles of impeachment — “ Gaetz said.

“Mr. Gaetz, take your statement to the press. They do no good here. So, please absent yourself,” Schiff said.

“You’re going to have someone remove me from the hearing?” Gaetz shot back.

“You’re going to remove yourself, Mr. Gaetz,” Schiff urged.

Gaetz then said he had “a right” to be there and asked Schiff to cite the rule that did not permit him to be present. The two argued for several more minutes as to whether Gaetz was allowed to be in the room, with Jordan defending his Republican colleague.

“Mr. Gaetz, why don’t you take your spectacle outside? This is not how we conduct ourselves in this committee,” Schiff said.

“I’ve seen how you’ve conducted yourself in this committee, and I’d like to be here to observe,” Gaetz said.

Schiff said the hearing would not continue until Gaetz left the room, and the time used up by the Republican congressman would be taken from the minority’s time for questioning. Gaetz left the room shortly after.

On the evening of September 24, 2019, Pelosi announced that six committees of the House of Representatives would begin a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Pelosi accused Trump of betraying his oath of office, U.S. national security, and the integrity of the country's elections.[37][38][39] The six committees charged with the task were those on Financial Services, the Judiciary, Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, Oversight and Reform, and Ways and Means.[40]

In October 2019, three congressional committees (Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs) deposed witnesses including Ambassador Taylor,[41] Laura Cooper (the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian affairs),[42] and former White House official Fiona Hill.[43] Witnesses testified that they believed that President Trump wanted Zelensky to publicly announce investigations into the Bidens and Burisma (a Ukrainian natural gas company on whose board Hunter Biden had served)[3][44] and 2016 election interference.[35] On October 8, in a letter from White House counsel Pat Cipollone to House speaker Pelosi, the White House officially responded that it would not cooperate with the investigation due to concerns including that there had not yet been a vote of the full House and that interviews of witnesses were being conducted behind closed doors.[45][46]