Schiff says GOP must prove relevance for impeachment hearing witnesses

The Hill ^ | November 7, 2019 | Tal Axelrod

[jazusamo]

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Republicans must justify the relevance of witnesses they want to call in public hearings as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

Schiff in a letter to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the panel, late Wednesday outlined questions that will be used to weigh whether a witness's testimony would be germane.

Among the questions are whether President Trump requested “that a foreign leader and government initiate investigations to benefit the President’s personal political interests” and if he sought to use his office “to apply pressure on the head of state and government of Ukraine to advance the President’s personal political interests,” including leveraging an Oval Office meeting or millions of dollars in military aid.

Schiff also said witnesses must speak to whether the president or administration officials sought to obstruct or cover up any evidence regarding Trump’s actions.

Republicans must submit their witness requests to Schiff by Saturday, including a written justification for the relevance of the testimony from each person they intend to call.

House Democrats announced Wednesday that they will hold their first public impeachment hearings next week as they ramp of their investigation into Trump's dealings with Ukraine.

Schiff said that William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, and George Kent, a top State Department official, will testify on Wednesday. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is then expected to testify on Nov. 15.

Democrats and Republicans on the House Intelligence, Oversight and Reform, and Foreign Affairs committees have already conducted several interviews behind closed doors.

Schiff said in the letter to Nunes that Democrats don’t intend to request public testimony from every witness the committees have already interviewed, and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) has said the GOP would likely seek testimony from people beyond those who have already spoken privately.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) added Thursday that Republicans intend to subpoena the government whistleblower who first raised alarm about interactions between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The effort is likely to fail, however, as Democrats have said they do not intend to out the anonymous figure over safety concerns and that other witnesses have already gone beyond what the official alleged.

The House’s impeachment inquiry was launched in September amid Democratic concerns that Trump leveraged $400 million in military aid to pressure Zelensky to open an investigation into unfounded corruption allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, a top candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Biden's son.

The White House has repeatedly blasted the House investigation as a "witch hunt" and decried Democrats' efforts as "unhinged" after they voted to formalize the inquiry last week.

Democrats have countered the president has abused his oath of office by seeking to involve foreign nations in U.S. domestic politics after publicizing testimony from several witnesses saying there was a quid pro quo surrounding Trump's dealings with Ukraine.

[glennaro]

Republicans must justify the relevance of witnesses

Justify to whom? To Schitts himself? To the committee? To Jeffrey Epstein? Under the Constitution the "defense" doesn't have to justify anything ...

[knarf]

MISCONDUCT IS NOT A CRIME, BUT FALSE ACCUSATION IS.

[Ingtar]

First GOP questions should be:

1. Were you on the phone call?
2. Did you interact directly with the President on this matter?
3. Did you speak with anyone on the House committees before giving “testimony”?

Feel free to add your own.

[odawg]

A “relevant witness” to little adam schiff is one who accuses Trump of crimes. I mean, that one is easy.

[Paladin2]

SCIF is totally irrelevant. [But still needs to interviewed as a witness.]

[usurper]

Shifty Schiffhead is in full kangaroo court phase.

Yep and the GOP is playing right along. The GOP should just walk away and let the dems play with themselves. Attending these farce hearings only lends them credibility.

[pepsi_junkie]

Watch closely, America. If they can put the President of the USA through an openly rigged process / trial, do you really think if they have full power they will respect YOUR rights? HAH!

[sphinx]

So: the prosecutor gets to screen defense witnesses and disqualify them at will? Cool.

How soon can we bring Schiff up on charges? Anything will do ….

[Paladin2]

"Is Chief Justice Roberts part of the Coup??"

Well, Traitor Roberts is in charge of the FISA Court...

[treetopsandroofs]

Whoever does not see this as the coup it is, is either blind, ignorant, or complicit, or some combination thereof.

It's NOW been labeled as such, and our domestic enemies are ALL IN.

[VanDeKoik]

“I don’t get why Republicans even play the game. They should all walk out en masse, stand on the Capitol steps and let it all hang out. They are elected members of Congress and are not obligated to wait for some IG report that never seems to get publicized. They know the truth. Speak it publicly. They should not return to the Capitol until the Dems stop the coup attempt.”

Sooooo they should “walk out”, give a press conference, and hope the Democrats feel “shame” enough to stop?

Ok.

[Dahoser]

They get to call whoever they want pencil-neck.

Actually they don't. By the rules of this farce, the Republicans must get permission from Schiff for their witnesses and must submit the request 72 hours in advance.

Here are the rules: https://www.theepochtimes.com/impeachment-inquiry-rules-skewed-heavily-against-the-president_3133880.html"

[TLI]

said Republicans must justify the relevance of witnesses they want to call in public hearings

Morons.

Relevance is determined by testimony in court, not the other way around.

Unless you are channeling Ministerium für Staatssicherheit.

.

[treetopsandroofs]

“How soon can we bring Schiff up on charges? Anything will do ….”

Hey now, do you really want BarrCo distracted from their reports to be released ANY DAY/MONTH/YEAR?!

Investigations into Rats only take 15-20 minutes to exonerate THEM....

[hardspunned]

Who will find the pic or evidence of Schiffty’s star witness hanging with Ciaramella? In the kangaroo court transcript Taylor swore he’d never heard of him. No way, since they both slither around in the very same swamp slime.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks. I half-expected to be called on that.

This does put Schiff in the position of blocking effective witness though, unless I’m not understanding part of this.

[jazusamo]

So: the prosecutor gets to screen defense witnesses and disqualify them at will? Cool.

Yep, that's exactly where the bug-eyed little turkey is going.

[dfwgator]

Republicans should go full "Delta House"...

[red-dawg]

[truthkeeper]

I was about to post almost the exact same thing. Walk out en masse and quit playing the Rats’ game. But in addition have regular updates for the American people on their shenanigans so they learn what a huge farce this whole thing is.