There are six Democratic committees in the House of Representatives that have been investigating alleged activities that could result in an impeachment. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered them to continue, but when she rings the bell, all must stop and hand their information over to the centermost committee.
The House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) has taken the lead in the impeachment inquiry. His committee has been investigating the president’s alleged pressuring of Ukraine’s new president Vladimir Zelensky in a “fundamental breach of the president’s oath of office.”
Schiff said on NBC’s Meet the Press show with host Chuck Todd that Congress had been considering Trump’s calls with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin along with other world leaders. These may have also been hidden in the top-secret stand-alone computer system, Schiff continued:
‘The paramount need here is to protect the national security of the United States and see whether, in the conversations with other world leaders and, in particular, with Putin, that the president was also undermining our security in a way that he thought would personally benefit his campaign. If those conversations with Putin or with other world leaders are sequestered in that same electronic file that is meant for covert action, not meant for this, if there’s an effort to hide those and cover those up, yes, we’re determined to find out.’
Schiff told Todd that the president’s behavior was “so egregious” the Democratic House had no choice but to formalize the opening the impeachment inquiry. The reason for the hearings was due to:
‘…the president using the power of his office to coerce a foreign nation into helping his presidential campaign.’
It appeared that the president wanted the young democracy to find or create some dirt on the man that Trump saw as his top contender in the race for president in the 2020 presidential election, former vice president Joe Biden:
‘The gravamen of the offense here is the president using the power of his office to coerce a foreign nation into helping his presidential campaign to once again interfere in our election, and at the same time withholding foreign aid that country so desperately needs to fight off who? The Russians.’
Then, he added:
‘The situation demands that we move forward with the inquiry.’
Congress forced the Trump White House to give them the whistleblower complaint. In it, the whistleblower alleged:
‘[Trump was] pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President’s main domestic political rivals [when he froze Military aid].’
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) stood up for the president and how he handled the Zelensky interview on Meet the Press:
‘President Trump was looking into the 2016 collusion and interference that Russia had when Barack Obama was president. We all know that happened under Barack Obama’s watch. I’m glad Trump continues to look into the interference.’
Scalise also tried to frame the Democrats’ efforts:
‘And he framed the investigation as just the latest attempt by Democrats to “go down this road of impeachment, regardless of the facts.
‘The chairman said a lot of things, made a lot of baseless accusations. Chairman Schiff was the one who for two years was running around saying he had more than circumstantial evidence that President Trump colluded with Russia on the Mueller investigation. And that turned out not to be true. The framers did not put the power of impeachment in the Constitution so that you can stop somebody from being elected who was duly elected.’
The Intelligence Committee chair added:
‘The president can’t have it both ways — he can’t both prevent us from getting evidence on these serious underlying crimes, or potential crimes, this serious breach of his oath of office, and at the same time obstruct our investigation. Even as he tries to weaken our ability to get facts on one, he’s going to strengthen the facts on the other.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
