Undersecretary of State David M. Hale, and former National Security Council official Timothy A. Morrison—did so at the request of the Minority. As Chairman Schiff explained, however, the impeachment inquiry would not be permitted to serve as a means for conducting "the same sham investigations . . . that President Trump pressed Ukraine to conduct for his personal political benefit."[1] Chairman Schiff likewise made clear that he would not "facilitate efforts by President Trump and his allies in Congress to threaten, intimidate, and retaliate against the whistleblower who courageously raised the initial alarm."[2]
HPSCI's public hearings concluded on November 21, 2019. On December 3, 2019, in consultation with the Committees on Oversight and Reform and Foreign Affairs, HPSCI released and voted to adopt a report of nearly 300 pages detailing its extensive findings about the President's abuse of his office and obstruction of Congress. Chairman Schiff noted that although the investigation would continue, "[t]he evidence of the President's misconduct is overwhelming," and the need to submit an impeachment referral was too urgent to delay. [3] On December 6, 2019, and pursuant to H. Res. 660, the Investigating Committees transmitted a final version of that report, together with a report documenting the Minority's views and evidence upon which the report relied, to the Judiciary Committee. [4] The Committees on the Budget and Foreign Affairs transmitted certain materials to the Judiciary Committee as well. [5] In addition, HPSCI subsequently made a classified supplemental submission provided by one of its witnesses available for Judiciary Committee Members to review in a secure facility.[6]
With respect to proceedings before the Judiciary Committee, pursuant to H. Res. 660, the Rules Committee established "Impeachment Inquiry Procedures in the Committee on the Judiciary" that provided a host of procedural privileges for President Trump. [7] Those procedures required that President Trump's counsel be furnished with copies of all materials transferred to the Judiciary Committee by HPSCI and the other committees investigating the President's misconduct. [8] They
- ↑ Letter from Adam B. Schiff, Chairman, H. Perm. Select Comm. on Intelligence, to Devin Nunes, Ranking Member, H. Perm. Select Comm. on Intelligence (Nov. 9, 2019).
- ↑ Id.
- ↑ Ukraine Report at 9 (preface from Chairman Schiff).
- ↑ Letter from Adam B. Schiff, Chairman, H. Perm. Select Comm. on Intelligence, Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman, H. Comm. on Oversight and Reform, and Eliot L. Engel, Chairman, H. Comm. on Foreign Affairs, to Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Dec. 6, 2019); see H. Res. 660 §§ 2(6), 3.
- ↑ Letter from John Yarmuth, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Budget, to Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Dec. 6, 2019); Letter from Eliot L. Engel, Chairman, H. Comm. on Foreign Affairs, to Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Dec. 6, 2019).
- ↑ See Letter from Adam B. Schiff, Chairman, H. Perm. Select Comm. on Intelligence, to Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Dec. 11, 2019).
- ↑ Impeachment Inquiry Procedures in the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record, 165 Cong. Rec. E1357 (daily ed. October 29, 2019) (hereinafter "Impeachment Inquiry Procedures").
- ↑ Accordingly, after receiving these materials from the Investigating Committees, the Judiciary Committee transmitted them to the President on December 8, 2019, with limited exceptions for materials containing sensitive information. The Committee has made the materials containing sensitive information available for the President's counsel's review in a
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