- White House blasted the Democrats’ impeachment resolution
- It’s ‘an illegitimate sham … without any due process for the President,’ White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement
- House Democrats released their impeachment resolution on Tuesday that outlines the next stage of the investigation into Donald Trump
- It includes public hearings and gives Republicans limited power to call witnesses
- Power is concentrated in hands on Intel Committee Chair Adam Schiff
- He will get to approve Republican witnesses and their requests for subpoena
- After Intel finishes its investigation, it will write a public report
- Matter then goes to Judiciary panel which writes articles of impeachment
- Trump and his lawyer cannot participate in process until that final stage
- House votes on resolution on Thursday, which is Halloween
The White House blasted the Democrats’ resolution that outlines the next steps in the impeachment inquiry as ‘an illegitimate sham’ that lacks ‘any due process’ for Donald Trump.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Tuesday complained about how late in the process the president’s attorneys are allowed to participate and points out the ‘rules’ regarding that role ‘haven’t been written.’
The resolution, released by House Democrats and Speaker Nancy Pelosi Tuesday afternoon, lays out the days ahead in the investigation. It includes public hearings, a written report on the findings and gives Republicans limited power to call witnesses.
Lacking from the eight-page document is a timeline for when the process will move to each step and when it expects to be concluded.
Under the resolution, power is concentrated in the hands of House Intelligence committee Chair Adam Schiff, who can authorize longer periods to question witnesses and who can approve Republican requests for witnesses to appear.
The Intelligence panel will take the lead in the next, immediate steps. Those include public hearings where Republican lawmakers and staff can question witnesses.
But there is no role for the president’s lawyer in the that stage – which is the White House’s chief complaint.
After its public hearings conclude, the Intelligence panel will submit its findings to the House Judiciary Committee, which will have the responsibility for drafting any articles of impeachment that would charge the president.
It’s in that stage that President Trump’s lawyers will get to be involved but what rights they will have – such as the ability to question witnesses – are not outlined in the resolution.
‘The White House is barred from participating at all, until after Chairman Schiff conducts two rounds of one-sided hearings to generate a biased report for the Judiciary Committee. Even then, the White House’s rights remain undefined, unclear, and uncertain – because those rules still haven’t been written,’ Grisham argued in her statement on the resolution.
By the time the president gets to participate, most of the drama will have played out on television screens across the country.
Republicans, meanwhile, have called foul on the restrictions Democrats have placed on them when it comes to presenting Trump’s case when the hearings move the public stage.
Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the intelligence panel, can request witnesses, documents and any subpoenas the GOP want but Schiff must sign off on those requests and the full committee, which has a majority of Democrats, must approve them by vote.
Democrats point out that it is the same practice Republicans used for the minority power during the impeachment proceedings into President Bill Clinton into 1998.