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The Democrats' Impeachment Resolution Reeks of Ill-Intent

Washington, D.C., October 31, 2019

I voted NO earlier today on the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry resolution against President Trump. This resolution was a total mess, and reeks of ill-intent.

Following national outrage over their closed-door impeachment efforts, yesterday the Democrat-controlled House Rules Committee put the finishing touches on this resolution, H. Res. 660, which sets the rules for how this impeachment inquiry will be run.

It’s worth noting that the #2 Democrat on the Rules Committee, Alcee Hastings, was himself impeached for bribery, convicted, and removed as a federal judge back in 1989. Democrats yesterday allowed NO Republican amendments for fairness into this resolution. Not one. Instead, here are a few "lowlights" of what they did let stand:

❌ Adam Schiff will remain the ringleader of this inquiry. This is the man who (among other things) blatantly fabricated transcribed conversations between President Trump and the Ukrainian President, and misled the public about early interactions with the so-called whistleblower. Schiff has NO business leading this process.

❌ Adam Schiff will control all witnesses. Republicans may request witnesses to be called, but every one of those requests will need to be approved by Schiff. Does anyone honestly believe he’ll allow any witness that could hurt his efforts to impeach President Trump? Of course not.

❌ This bill does not compel Adam Schiff to release the transcripts of proceedings he’s already conducted behind closed doors. (It says that he can, not that he must. He can pick & choose.) Remember, Schiff conveniently leaked bits & pieces of testimony he believes helps his cause, but the American public has NO idea whether the witnesses’ full testimony, taken in context, supports this notion that the President should be removed from office. This resolution COMPLETELY fails to ensure transparency for what Democrats have already done behind closed doors.

❌ The resolution says Schiff “shall designate open hearing or hearings.” Read this cunning language carefully. As long as there’s “an open hearing” (i.e. one open hearing) then Schiff has the discretion to move others back to closed doors. It’s unbelievable.

❌ The resolution says a report "shall be prepared in consultation with the chairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Oversight and Reform.” In other words, the final report that will be used to justify an impeachment will be compiled by Adam Schiff and two other Democrats. A Republican version of this report will be lucky to make it into the appendix.

The list goes on, but the bottom line is this: those who claim this resolution was written in such a way to formalize fairness and transparency are flat-out wrong. The language in this resolution does nothing of the sort, and this process to try and remove a duly elected president remains a total sham.