note: Democrats launched the impeachment inquiry about a month ago on Sept. 24, 2019


U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL-01)
October 23, 2019

Congressmen Matt Gaetz & Steve Scalise Storm SCIF to Demand Transparency in Impeachment Proceedings with Over 50 Republican Colleagues

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL-01) and House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (LA-01) hosted a press conference in the Capitol, demanding more transparency and fairness in Democrats’ impeachment proceedings with more than 50 of their Republican colleagues. Immediately following the press conference, Reps. Gaetz and Scalise led their colleagues into the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), where they attempted to observe the deposition. Upon entering the room, Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (CA-28) left the room with the witness, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, Laura Cooper.

Rep. Gaetz, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, has long been a vocal critic of the Democrats’ secretive, closed-door impeachment inquiry. Last week, Rep. Gaetz attempted to attend a deposition, but Intelligence Committee Chairman Schiff ordered him to be removed from the room. 

The video and rough transcript of his opening remarks at the press conference can be found below. 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE

TRANSCRIPT

“I'm gathered here with dozens of my Congressional colleagues, underground in the basement of the Capitol, and behind those doors they intend to overturn the results of an American presidential election. We want to know what is going on. 

It's only reasonable we would have questions, but so far Adam Schiff's impeachment inquiry has been marked by secret interviews, selective links, and weird theatrical performances of transcripts that never happened, and lies about contact with the whistleblower.

We are going to try and go in there, and we’re going to try to figure out what is going on behalf of the millions of Americans that we represent, who want to see Congress working for them, and not obsessed with attacking a president who we believe has not done anything to deserve impeachment.”

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
October 24, 2019

McConnell Sponsors Resolution Urging the House to Respect Due Process

The House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry is breaking critical precedents, denying the administration important rights that were afforded other presidents, and violating basic rules of due process…the fact that some House Democrats may have made up their minds years ago does not remove their solemn responsibility to conduct this enormously consequential process in a fair manner that follows precedent and respects the due process that every single American deserves.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), introduced today their Senate Resolution urging the House of Representatives to begin respecting the precedents and due process safeguards that have been abandoned thus far in impeachment inquiry proceedings. Leader McConnell released the following statement regarding his Senate Resolution:

“I am joining the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee today to reinforce a fundamental principle that is vital to our democracy.

“Any process to overrule the American people’s democratic decision in a presidential election must adhere to the highest standards of fairness and due process. Yet the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry is breaking critical precedents, denying the administration important rights that were afforded other presidents, and violating basic rules of due process.

“Unlike the House’s actions during investigations of both President Nixon and President Clinton, this House majority is denying President Trump important rights and due process protections. These include President Trump’s right to be represented by counsel; his right for that counsel to be present at all hearings and depositions; his right for that counsel to call and cross-examine witnesses; and even his right to access and respond to the evidence which the House compiles.

“House Democrats are even denying their own Republican colleagues basic procedural rights that the minority party was granted throughout previous impeachments.

“The entire country knows that many Washington Democrats have wanted to nullify the results of the 2016 election from the moment that President Trump won it. Prominent members of the House have been promising to impeach him since the earliest months of his presidency.

“But the fact that some House Democrats may have made up their minds years ago does not remove their solemn responsibility to conduct this enormously consequential process in a fair manner that follows precedent and respects the due process that every single American deserves.

“Chairman Graham’s and my resolution urges the House to begin respecting the precedents and due process safeguards that have been ignored thus far. These are not partisan matters. They are extremely serious questions of due process and the rule of law.”

Sen. Graham's resolution drew support from most Republican Senators...

S. RES. 378

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 24, 2019

Mr. Graham (for himself, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Thune, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Burr, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Risch, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Paul, Mr. Lee, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Cruz, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Daines, Mr. Perdue, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Young, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Moran, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Braun, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Sasse, Mr. Toomey, Ms. McSally, and Mr. Sullivan) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the House of Representatives should, consistent with long-standing practice and precedent, prior to proceeding any further with its impeachment investigation into President Donald J. Trump, vote to open a formal impeachment inquiry and provide President Trump with fundamental constitutional protections.

Whereas one of the cornerstones of the American Constitution is due process: the right to confront your accuser, call witnesses on your behalf, and challenge the accusations against you;

Whereas the House of Representatives is abandoning more than a century’s worth of precedent and tradition in impeachment proceedings and denying President Trump basic fairness and due process accorded every American;

Whereas, in our nation’s history, the House has on three occasions moved to formally investigate whether sufficient grounds exist to impeach a President, and in all three of these cases, the full House voted on a resolution authorizing the House Judiciary Committee to determine whether to impeach the President;

Whereas, in the case of President Trump, a formal impeachment process involving debate and a vote by the full House prior to taking each step in the process has been replaced by a press conference by the Speaker of the House;

Whereas the proposition that the Speaker acting alone may direct committees to initiate impeachment proceedings without any debate or a vote on the House floor is unprecedented and undemocratic;

Whereas the House is denying President Trump due process within the ‘‘inquiry’’ itself;

Whereas, for the impeachment investigations of President Richard M. Nixon and President William J. Clinton, the House Judiciary Committee adopted rules of procedure to provide due process rights and ensure fairness;

Whereas these rights included—

(1) allowing the President to be represented by counsel;

(2) permitting the President’s counsel to be present at all hearings and depositions;

(3) permitting the President’s counsel to present evidence and object to the admission of evidence;

(4) allowing the President’s counsel to call and cross-examine witnesses; and

(5) giving the President’s counsel access to, and the ability to respond to, the evidence adduced by the Committee;

Whereas, by contrast, the House’s current impeachment ‘‘inquiry’’ provides none of these basic rights and protections to President Trump;

Whereas the main allegations against President Trump are based on assertions and testimony from witnesses whom he is unable to confront, as part of a process in which he is not able to offer witnesses in his defense or have a basic understanding of the allegations lodged against him;

Whereas all witness interviews that have been conducted thus far in the House have been behind closed doors with limited minority participation;

Whereas the House’s current impeachment ‘‘inquiry’’ ignores the procedural rights given to the investigating committee’s minority in previous Presidential impeachments, including granting equal subpoena power to both the chair and ranking member of the committee;

Whereas, the House is denying President Trump the same basic pre-inquiry rights afforded to President Clinton;

Whereas the Whitewater Investigation involved nearly five years of painstaking investigative work by a special counsel and an independent counsel before the House even voted to have the Judiciary Committee open an impeachment inquiry;

Whereas President Clinton vigorously fought that investigation, including by raising multiple privilege claims and he was permitted to fully litigate those claims through the courts;

Whereas President Trump, by contrast, fully cooperated with Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s investigation;

Whereas, during the course of the Mueller investigation, President Trump never raised privilege claims, he turned over more than one million pages of documents, he directed senior aides to testify freely, including making the White House Counsel available to testify for more than thirty hours, and he agreed to answer written questions on penalty of perjury; and

Whereas, rather than giving President Trump the same due process rights that President Clinton had to raise and litigate claims of constitutional privilege, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has repeatedly threatened to use President Trump’s assertion of his constitutional rights as evidence of obstruction and to impeach President Trump for trying to litigate those claims: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) calls on the House of Representatives, prior to proceeding any further with its impeachment investigation into President Trump, to vote to initiate a formal impeachment inquiry;

(2) calls on the House of Representatives to provide President Trump, like every other American, with due process, to include the ability to confront his accusers, call witnesses on his behalf, and have a basic understanding of the accusations against him that would form any basis for impeachment; and 

(3) calls on the House of Representatives to provide members of the minority with the ability to participate fully in all proceedings and have equal authority to issue subpoenas and other compulsory process.

Republican National Committee
October 25, 2019

 RNC Executive Committee Passes Resolution Condemning Democrats’ Secretive Impeachment “Investigation”

WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel issued the following statement after the RNC’s Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution in support of President Trump and the Graham-McConnell resolution:

"Today, members of the RNC Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution of support for our president and the Graham-McConnell resolution condemning the unprecedented actions of House Democrats," said Chairwoman McDaniel. "However baseless this inquiry may be, if House Democrats are intent on pursuing their political vendetta against President Trump, he should at least be afforded the same due process as every other American. Their unwillingness to do that is further evidence that this partisan sham is nothing more than a desperate attempt to take down a president they know they can’t beat at the ballot box." 

A copy of the resolution is posted below: 
 
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE GRAHAM-MCCONNELL RESOLUTION DEMANDING HOUSE DEMOCRATS PROVIDE FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS IN THEIR IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATION

WHEREAS, Democrats in the House of Representatives have launched a nakedly partisan impeachment investigation of President Donald J. Trump in secret and without affording a sitting President any due process protections;
 
WHEREAS, in an unprecedented maneuver, House Democrats have launched recklessly into this unfair, unprecedented, and undemocratic process without holding any vote;
 
WHEREAS, House Democrats have shut out Republican members of the House from being able to participate meaningfully in the proceedings such as by granting equal subpoena power to minority members of the Judiciary Committee;
 
WHEREAS, House Democrats’ partisan motives are evidenced by their selective leaking of information from the closed impeachment proceedings;
 
WHEREAS, House Democrats, who from the time of the President’s election have stated their desire to impeach, are trying to void 63,000,000 votes and do through this impeachment fiasco what they cannot achieve at the ballot box; and
 
WHEREAS, in under three years in office President Trump has amassed an unprecedented number of accomplishments strengthening the United States both at home and abroad; therefore, be it
 
RESOLVED, That the Executive Committee of the Republican National Committee (RNC) now more than ever wholeheartedly supports President Trump and his administration in making America great again;
 
RESOLVED, that the RNC condemns House Democrats’ impeachment circus;
 
RESOLVED, that the RNC wholeheartedly supports both the President in his impeachment defense and congressional Republicans’ efforts to ensure fairness and due process in the face of the Democrats’ ruthless impeachment investigation, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham’s resolution;

RESOLVED, that the RNC calls on the House of Representatives to provide President Trump, like every other American, with due process, to include the ability to confront his accusers, call witnesses on his behalf, and have a basic understanding of the accusations against him that would form any basis for impeachment; and finally be it

RESOLVED, that the RNC calls on the House of Representatives to provide members of the minority with the ability to participate fully in all proceedings and have equal authority to issue subpoenas and other compulsory process. 

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