GOP demands 'equal playing field' ahead of former Ukraine envoy Volker's scheduled testimony
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
House Republicans are demanding an “equal playing field” in the Democrat-led impeachment probe against President Trump after Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said ahead of Thursday’s scheduled testimony from former U.S. envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker that GOP members of the Foreign Affairs Committee will not be permitted to ask questions or have equal representation during the hearing.
Volker is scheduled to be the first key witness to testify as part of a probe into an anonymous whistleblower’s complaint about a July 25 phone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ’s family’s dealings in the country. The interview will be behind closed doors.
Kurt Volker -- until recently the U.S. special representative to Ukraine -- is seen in Kiev, Ukraine, Sept. 15, 2018. (Associated Press)
The lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote Wednesday evening: “I was alarmed to learn – less than 24 hours before the first interview is scheduled to start – that it will be led by the Intelligence Committee and that questioning will be done solely by their staff.”
“We were told that only a single Republican professional staffer from the Foreign Affairs Committee will be allowed to attend while the majority will have two,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the committee’s ranking member, continued. “These constraints on committee and Republican participation are unacceptable and at odds with House Rules and general fairness. We demand equal representation and participation in this inquiry, there is too much at stake for America and Congress.”
In the letter addressed to Chairman Eliot L. Engel, D-N.Y., McCaul further argued that despite statements made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other Democrats, “there is not a “House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry” because the entire House has not voted on the matter.
Citing House Rules X and XI, McCaul said that until Congress members from both parties vote to create a special impeachment task force to carry out proceedings, “Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff lacks the jurisdiction to investigate the Department of State’s conduct of United States foreign policy toward Ukraine. That prerogative belongs to our Members.”
“Official impeachment inquiries are initiated by the adoption of a House resolution empowering or creating a committee or task force to undertake such activities,” McCaul continued. “In both the Nixon and Clinton cases, the Judiciary Committee debated and reported a resolution authorizing the Judiciary Committee to investigate whether there were sufficient grounds to impeach the President, which was then debated and voted on by the full House of Representatives. There have been no such debates or votes in this Congress.”
On Thursday, Volker is expected to voluntarily give a deposition before the Schiff-led Intelligence Committee as part of its impeachment inquiry into whether Trump abused his authority by asking Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden, a leading candidate for the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination.
Volker resigned last week after his name surfaced in a whistleblower complaint alleging that Trump sought to pressure Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Burisma, the Ukrainian energy firm that paid the former vice president’s son to serve on its board.
Acting as the U.S. envoy for Ukraine, Volker met with Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of directors of Burisma Group, in New York last year even as Trump’s private lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was pressing Ukraine’s government to investigate the company and the Bidens’ involvement with it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
By Danielle Wallace
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October 2, 2019
The Honorable
Eliot L. Engel, Chairman
Committee on Foreign Affairs
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
I am writing to strongly object to the abdication of the Foreign Affairs Committee’s oversight jurisdiction to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. It will damage the credibility of our committee and minimize our Members’ expertise in the exercise of that jurisdiction.
On September 27, 2019, you and two other chairmen sent a letter to the Secretary of State claiming to “schedule” without subpoena the depositions of five State Department officials to “be conducted jointly by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Oversight and Reform.” The stated subjects of the depositions – the conduct of U.S. relations with Ukraine, and U.S. security assistance to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression – are squarely within the Rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. According to House Rule X, our committee is responsible for “Relations of the United States with foreign nations generally.” This is not the jurisdiction of the Intelligence Committee.
Contrary to the first sentence of that letter, there is not a “House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry.” Official impeachment inquiries are initiated by the adoption of a House resolution empowering or creating a committee or task force to undertake such activities. In both the Nixon and Clinton cases, the Judiciary Committee debated and reported a resolution authorizing the Judiciary Committee to investigate whether there were sufficient grounds to impeach the President, which was then debated and voted on by the full House of Representatives. [1] There have been no such debates or votes in this Congress.
Unless and until that happens, individual committees may conduct oversight and investigations only pursuant to their general jurisdiction and authority under House Rules X and XI. Except for the Committee on Oversight and Reform (which is granted plenary investigative authority by Rule X(4)(c)(2)), committees do not have the authority to conduct investigations within the jurisdiction of other standing committees.
Put simply, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff lacks the jurisdiction to investigate the Department of State’s conduct of United States foreign policy toward Ukraine. That prerogative belongs to our Members.
Thus, I was alarmed to learn – less than 24 hours before the first interview is scheduled to start – that it will be led by the Intelligence Committee and that questioning will be done solely by their staff. Also we were told that only a single Republican professional staffer from the Foreign Affairs Committee will be allowed to attend while the majority will have two. These constraints on committee and Republican participation are unacceptable and at odds with House Rules and general fairness. Impeaching the President of the United States is a grave and serious matter for the American people, and they expect fairness and due process by their representatives in establishing the facts. We demand equal representation and participation in this inquiry, there is too much at stake for America and Congress.
Sincerely,
MICHAEL T. McCAUL
Ranking Member
House Foreign Affairs Committee
Seems the House Democrats do not want to follow the rules. What a shock!/S
It looks like Democrats can't make a case on the up and up.
If they cared about presenting a legitimate case for impeachment to the American people, they would go above and beyond to demonstrate the process was fair. This is the opposite. Pure partisanship.
You mean like the 6 Republican closed door session to design a new healthcare system? That kind of partisanship?
Do tell?
I'm sorry, did you just compare the procedural process to remove an elected President of the United States with that of a legislative bill with a straight face?
Wow...
So you are saying that the Republican closed door session wasn't partisan........hmmmmm.
Republicans and Democrats do that all the time, legislation is almost always written by partisan groups or even single Legislators and their staff. Everyone gets to speak their peace when that Legislation is brought to the floor and then maybe it will be voted on maybe not but nobody will be bared from speaking or voting.
There were 200 Republican submitted amendments to the PPACA, how many parts of the Republican failed version were Democratic?
It was bought to the floor in a pure up and down vote to bypass the possibility of a filibuster. How many times did the Democrats do that?
Their first witness will have a hearing behind closed doors. They get to ask the questions. If the answers don't help the narrative, we will never hear what was said. If anything helps them it will get leaked out.
It is sad that progressives have denigrated the House of Representatives to this point
wow...the sleaze ball Democrats at it again....shocker!
I've seen reports on tv to the effect that Volker's testimony will be damaging to Trump.
What a pity.
Volker by the way, was a close associate of John McCain. Trump is getting a little instant karma for his ridiculous belittling of a dying man.
As for the committee, I would prefer they let the Republicans question the witness, but after the comically ludicrous way the GOP led committee treated Strzok last year I'm not overwhelmed with grief over the Republican members being kept on the sideline here.
I'm sure you have. Was it on the same network that has Andrew McCabe critiquing the McCabe investigation?
Volker by the way, was a close associate of John McCain. Trump is getting a little instant karma for his ridiculous belittling of a dying man.
The fact that McCain was dying dosen't take away from his hatred of Trump, which he put before the nation's interests.
but after the comically ludicrous way the GOP led committee treated Strzok last year I'm not overwhelmed with grief over the Republican members being kept on the sideline here.
But you had no problem with Adam Schiff lying about what the President said in a conversation, pretending it was the President's words?
Immediately after Schiff finished his "satire" of Trump's words, and I mean immediately (the next thing Schiff said, one second later), he said his previous comments were "in sum and character" what Trump had said. In other words, Schiff instantly acknowledged that he had rephrased the president*'s actual words. Schiff wasnt passing them off as a quote from trump, he flat out said it was a "characterization". At the time.
Utter nonsense.
He called it "a parody" when challenged by a Republican Rep - In the meantime, any casual viewer was led to believe that those were the actual words of the President!
It's not nonsense. McCain never forgave Trump for the "I like the hero's that don't get caught" statement. Of course it was McCain who started all of that by calling Trump supporters "crazies". Most aren't aware of that thanks to our totally disreputable media.
Truth hurts I know.
Tell us what you know of truth?
The man was in POW camp and tortured, for years, and you think it is ok for Trump to mock all that because he called Trump's supporters crazies. Maybe McCain called them crazies because they supported someone who would say something like Trump did about McCain being a POW.
You have some odd ideas of what is admirable and what isnt.
Yes indeed, interesting how some make a statement such as 'he started it'!!!!!!!! Worse than toddlers.
No, I don't, nor do I think it was ok for McCain to smear Trump supporters, but that was the source of the feud.
Maybe McCain called them crazies because they supported someone who would say something like Trump did about McCain being a POW.
That makes no sense John! It was the McCain statement that prompted the Trump response.
You have some odd ideas of what is admirable and what isnt.
I know what is worthy of my admiration. You seem to think admiration is something to be used. Did you vote for the honorable John McCain in the presidential election of 2008?
That was the election when the highly principled McCain publicly corrected his own supporters who thought Obama was a Muslim or had dual loyalties. Remember that memorable scene? For those who don't:
He was so highly principled that he wouldn't drag Obama's associations with the Rev Wright or Bill Ayers into the debate!
He was so highly principled that he sent out a woefully unprepared Sarah Palin to be interviewed by seasoned reporters, who had NO principles!
He was so highly principled that he put up little to counter the dynamic political persona he was up against!
He was so highly principled that you must have voted for him, right John????
You make little sense.
What a thin skinned petulant toddler you have for a 'president'
HE STARTED IT!
I would say zero sense but hey . . . . . .
You must have enjoyed that highly principled McCain going down in defeat. We are basically the same John. We vote for the policies we want. It involves how we and our children and grandkids are going to live. It's not about how Trump talks. It's about that America you wanted, which he denied to you. I say thank God for Trump!
Vic, why is Trump on the White House lawn this morning, lying to the press and to the nation?
Trump is saying that the whistleblowers account is "pure fiction". As we all know , the whistleblowers account quite closely matches the account of the phone call that Trump himself released.
Why do you support someone who lies at the drop of a hat like that EVERY DAY ?
You have to explain yourself.
The right thing to do at this point would be to dump Trump and nominate someone on the GOP side who doesn't lie every five minutes.
The souls of Trump supporters are on the line.
Obama was and is an honorable person. Your problem is you read and listen to ridiculous conspiracy theories.
I never agreed with McCain's politics but I always thought he at least tried to be honest and that he cared deeply about this country. He would have also probably been elected POTUS if it were not for picking Sarah Boo Boo Palin for his running mate. Her and her family are a total train wreck today. She is even divorcing Todd. I think McCain would have been an okay President though I did not have voted for him against Obama in 2008. McCain was at least a big R Republican of the Grand Old Party of Lincoln. Trump represents the weak tea of the small r small g gop. There is no doubt Trump will go down in history as a failure and a national embarrassment. I kind of feel sorry for some who hitched their wagons to his falling star as it all falls apart around them. And, it is all falling apart...
Congratulations on your ability to ignore the high crimes of Trump & Co...
Trump is entitled to his own opinion, is he not?
"As we all know" was a favorite opening for Pravda. The report makes claims, outside of the phone call transcript, that have yet to verified.
Let's look at my 3 favorites:
1) "AG Barr appears to be involved" - yet to be verified and highly questionable.
2) "soliciting interference from a foreign power in the 2020 election" - Highly debatable
3) "half a dozen officials have informed me" - Needs verification
You get the point, right?
You just called him a liar again. It's time for you to be honest.
I guess you find it amusing that Trump lies many times a day. Often lying directly to the American people.
He wan't even involved. It was about your admiration for the honorable john McCain. You just proved to everyone that honor & principles is not why you vote for someone. You voted for Obama because you liked his agenda. Why not just admit it?
Are you feeling left out....
Barr is involved. Trump did solicit interference from a foreign country.
There is no reason to doubt that other officials gave the whistlebower information.
If Trump stepped out of the White House, looked up at completely sunny sky and said "Boy, it's really raining hard", you are the type of person who would say he wasnt lying because it's probably raining SOMEWHERE.
-
Trump just asked China (publicly called for them to do it) to investigate Joe Biden and his son.
So much for the fantasy that Trump doesnt ask our adversaries to meddle in our elections.
I completely understand and it is totally logical that policies were the determining factor in your vote as well as mine. Agreed?
He would have also probably been elected POTUS if it were not for picking Sarah Boo Boo Palin for his running mate.
You really thought he had a chance? All I had to do was stand him next to the greatest public speaker of my lifetime (Obama) and I gave McCain little chance. When the financial crisis broke out a month before the election, McCain's chances dropped to ZERO. (it happened under W's watch after all)
There is no doubt Trump will go down in history as a failure and a national embarrassment.
We don't really know yet, but I have a hunch he won't get credit for many of his accomplishments. I consider Trump a necessity.
I find you amusing and your tall tales.
Go gaslight someone else. I am not interested.
I doubt it very much.
Trump did solicit interference from a foreign country.
I'm sure you believe that. It's a narrative, not a fact.
There is no reason to doubt that other officials gave the whistlebower information.
We don't know any of that yet John. You claiming it as fact is no different that Trump calling it fiction.
If Trump stepped out of the White House, looked up at completely sunny sky and said "Boy, it's really raining hard", you are the type of person who would say he wasnt lying because it's probably raining SOMEWHERE.
And you are the type who would wait for the sun to come out, so you could say he lied!
Trump just asked China (publicly called for them to do it) to investigate Joe Biden and his son.
So what? Maybe he is calling attention to the fact that China paid Hunter Biden millions for influence of some kind
So much for the fantasy that Trump doesnt ask our adversaries to meddle in our elections.
So much for the lying liberal media
Good god, Vic, Trump just asked on LIVE TV for China to investigate the Bidens. Deal with it.
Is that the latest bombshell from CNN? I doubt if it's an impeachable offense.
'I say thank God for Trump!'
If there was a god I think most people who have said that would be struck by lightning.
No, it came out of trumps own mouth on live TV. Let me guess, it was a deep state operative dressed up to look like trump?
What accomplishments?
You need to get out more........................here is just the latest one.......
While the media focuses, like a laser, on the impeachment bullshit..........
And this while they continue to do nothing but laser focus on bullshit..........
If you don't even watch or read what Trump says, why are you automatically defending and denying? It ain't rocket science to watch the fucker talk on live tv, as in real time, as in out of his mouth, which doubles as an ass. How can one know what goes on if they don't bother to pay attention? I don't get it.
That's obvious...........
Try getting Trump to laser focus on it. If he can't be bothered must not matter, right?
I take what Trump says with a grain of salt. He tweets everyday. It mostly involves the President's opinions, priorities and reactions. What disturbs me is what I have heard from those whom I depend upon for news and what they have done to this country.
The other reason could be the ridiculously high pollution of every kind in The Garden State.
Another EO?
Seriously?
Weren't everyone except hard core conservatives blasted with the evils of EO's throughout the Obama Administration?
Did not most Republican states decline the expansion of Medicare & Medicaid as an evil plot by whomever?
This is just more EO, unenforceable eye candy.
Partisan scare tactics, plain & simple.
Ok, you don't pay attention to what Trump says because he just blows. I'm thinking someone wouldn't know the truth if it bit them in the ass.
May want to rethink your standards.
That was such an important comment that this seed was reopened! Interesting.
They are coming out of the interview room now. Based on statements from schiff and Jim Jordan, one would think they attended different hearings
This just in:
Schiff is a proven liar...so not surprised.
it's aggod thing Trump would never lie to you, no....?
It is a good thing.
Trump lies every day and you think nothing of it.
Democrats lie to you everyday and you think nothing of it.
How do those lies affect you and yours personally? No generalizations please. I said personally affect you. GO
A trump supporter calling anyone a liar is the definition of hypocrisy.
A TDS sufferer nonetheless.
You got them 10,000 lies? or is it 10 million now....
Using Salon as a source is an even bigger hypocrisy.
Salon is your source.....
Salon, vox, Mother Jones, and Stephen Colbert are the go to's.
'Crazy To Withhold Security Assistance' To Ukraine For Political Campaign: Top US Diplomat
In newly disclosed text messages shared with Congress, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine at the time writes to a group of other American diplomats that "I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”
The exchange, provided by former U.S Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker as part of his closed-door deposition before multiple House committees Thursday, shows what appears to be encrypted text messages he exchanged with two other American diplomats in September regarding aid money President Donald Trump ordered to be held back from Ukraine.
Ex-Ukraine envoy Volker meets with lawmakers amid impeachment probe, as texts reveal ‘quid pro quo’ dispute
He's a Trump toady. If he was even slightly objective his thoughts would carry more weight.
Him? I think you forgot - The Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson noted the political bias of the still anonymous filer.
Democrats trying to lock out Republicans isn't surprising. Republicans have done the same thing; there really isn't that much difference between the two parties.
What is surprising is that Democrats actually believe they can impeach Trump without conducting public hearings. Closed door, backroom impeachment isn't going to be accepted by the public; particularly independent voters. That might play in New York where voters are accustomed to dirty politics but that's not going to work in the heartland.
All of this will have to be publicly disclosed during an impeachment trial. The witnesses will have to be named and their testimony will have to be made public. Democrats need to accept that they will need to burn the intelligence community. That's the source of all the evidence. And the sources and evidence will need to be publicly disclosed. Democrats reluctance to conduct public business in public is a guarantee that impeachment won't happen.
Come on Democrats, get on with it. Too late to drag feet now. Parodies of evidence won't be enough; the public won't accept a political SNL skit as a credible effort to defend the Constitution or the country.
You'd better believe it. Dems making the same mistakes over and over again expecting a different result. Glorious.
Excellent point. Let's face it there has been a breakdown within the CIA and or government of traditional restrictions against sharing intelligence beyond those with a need to know it. What happened to "you don’t share classified information with someone who doesn’t have a sufficient level of clearance and "you don’t share with someone who doesn’t have an official need to know the information? Here we have a situation where the WB and his helpers may have violated some rules/laws.
Well, the first inkling should have been James Comey's flaccid exoneration of Clinton. Clinton isn't the important part of what was revealed. Comey revealed that the intelligence community has grown very comfortable being directly involved in influencing political issues.
Comey should have been ostracized by the intelligence community after his PR stunt. But that's not what happened. The intelligence community began overtly attempting to defend Comey for involvement in a strictly political affair. And Trump's dismissal of James Comey has apparently resulted in an escalation of efforts by the intelligence community to influence politics. There should be little doubt that the source of leaks from the Trump administration is the intelligence community. The political management of the intelligence agencies are playing both ends to the middle in what appears to be an attempt to obtain absolute control over both the executive and legislative branches of government by using politics as a weapon.
Well, this has been an absolute disaster for the Democrats. I have to assume they don't actually want to remove Trump, they just want to placate the nutjobs on the left with a "we tried" excuse. First they allow Adam Schiff to manage the hearings.. The same guy who got caught lying about having proof of Trump's collusion with Russia and who literally just got lying about his committee having contact with the whistle blower who started the fracas. Then, they decide to run impeachment as a partisan farce, denying the President a chance to defend himself and the public to even know what the evidence is.
It's like they are trying to force independents and Republicans to oppose impeachment. Any non left wing wacko knows the only Trump can be removed is by gaining support of Republicans and independents. They are they jury. Yet, Pelosi seems determined to run a kangaroo impeachment court without any hint of due process or procedural fairness, giving Republican senators every reason to quickly dismiss impeachment as a partisan farce.
Trump couldn't be luckier in his enemies.
Your party impeached a president for lying about a blowjob and spent 6 months being outraged because Obama wore a tan suit. Sorry, your right to complain has been revoked.
BTW? What trump did was sell out his country for his own personal gain. It's not just immoral, it's illegal. Deal with it.
It wasn't WHAT he lied about, it was to WHOM he lied.
orry, your right to complain has been revoked.
How Unamerican of you.. Let your fascist flag fly high. .
But Thanks for proving my point. This is exactly what I'm talking about. This is just about the extremist, irrational left acting out and throwing shit. It's obviously not serious or they'd at least make an attempt at procedural fairness.
How dumb do you have to be to think this sort of nonsense is will help get Trump removed from office? Maybe try counting numbers in the Senate.....
It's amazing that people still can't figure that out.
You've got to remember. It's a talking point whataboutism. They like to do that
And Trump has lied to everybody AND committed crimes in office. If you recall, the gop spent years looking for something on Clinton until they considered hearsay from Linda Tripp. So quitcherbitchen.
No.
Why not?
Merrick Garland.
The GOP can go pound sand. Elections have consequences.