Last week, House impeachment investigators held what for now are their final public hearings, including witnesses like top Ukraine diplomat Bill Taylor and E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland — although they have still not heard from other key individuals who they’ve sought for testimony while uncovering details of Trump’s Ukraine quid pro quo scheme. Those still resisting figures include Energy Secretary Rick Perry, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and others, who are resisting at the direction of President Donald Trump. On Fox News Sunday this weekend, House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) denounced the president’s obstruction and suggested it could even impede his access to future hearings.
Why should Democrats keep trying to establish the White House as a legitimate voice in the inquiry if they’re just going to keep resisting? Swalwell explained to host Chris Wallace:
‘The amount of obstruction here is unprecedented, and I think it was frustrating for the American people to watch the last two weeks of hearings and hear the president and his defenders say, well you don’t have direct evidence, or all you have is hearsay evidence, you need to hear from XYZ person, when the president is telling Mick Mulvaney, John Bolton, Secretaries Pompeo and Perry not to come in — I think that can go to his consciousness of guilt, but I also don’t think he should be rewarded and be able to play such a large part of the proceedings in the Judiciary Committee if they’re not going to give us any of the documents — but that’s Chairman Nadler’s call.’
Watch:
This week marked the last publicly scheduled impeachment hearings. SO what’s next? Rep Eric Swalwell, a member of both the House Judiciary and Intel committee, reacts. #FNS #FoxNews #DC #Impeachment #Politics pic.twitter.com/BHR40E4CNI
— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) November 24, 2019
As Wallace noted, there’s a provision in the recently passed formal procedures for going forward with impeachment that allows House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) to shut out the president’s legal counsel if they’re refusing to engage beyond trying to trip up the process.
Swalwell added:
‘For this process to be productive for the American people… if the president is going to say: I’m not giving you any of the documents, I’m not going to let any of the witnesses come in. However, I want to throw pot shots from the gallery and try and fog up this investigation — I don’t know if that’s productive either.’
Trump and his closest defenders have complained for weeks on end about Democrats supposedly failing to provide the president with appropriate due process, but they have been following duly established legal precedent. At the investigation’s current stage, Dems have been collecting evidence, and Congress does that all the time without presidential involvement — Trump just wants special treatment.
During his own Sunday morning television appearance, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) insisted that the investigation would be proceeding, no matter Trump’s demands.
As he put it:
‘There are still other witnesses, other documents that we would like to obtain, but we are not willing to go the months and months and months of rope a dope in the courts, which the administration would more than love for us to do.’
At this point, as Swalwell explained, the House Intelligence Committee will continue to pour over the evidence they’ve got and further proceedings may continue in the Judiciary Committee, which could develop articles of impeachment.
