“LET US IN!” House Republicans LITERALLY Scream
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, October 23, 2019
While for many years it has been common practice to exclude some Members of Congress from sensitive Congressional investigations if they are not committee members – such as when Republicans began an investigation into the 2012 attack upon the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya – apparently, Republicans think the rules don’t apply to them, and when things don’t go their way, behave like petulant children.
About 2 dozen House Republicans staged a protest outside the closed-door, secure room committee where depositions were ongoing, and screamed “LET US IN! LET US IN!”
Flanked by about two dozen House Republicans, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., argues that all GOP lawmakers should have access to closed-door depositions in the impeachment inquiry. Committee rules dictate that only those on the panels conducting the probe can attend.
Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images
The area is designated as secure — meaning that classified materials and witness testimony is discussed there, and only select lawmakers and a small number of staff are allowed entry.
Republican lawmakers tried to enter with their cellphones, which is a violation of the rules for a secure information facility and a breach of national security protocols. Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-33, D) said that the Republican effort to enter the secure area without authorization was an “attack on the investigation,” adding that “They’re freaked out. They’re trying to stop this investigation; they don’t want to hear from witness Cooper today.”
Even South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who often defends Trump, said, “This is nuts, they’re making a run on the SCIF,” referring to the Secure Compartmentalized Information Facility where the intelligence panel meets. “That’s not the way to do it.”
Laura K. Cooper, whose testimony was subpoenaed, is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, and defied orders by the Department of Defense to not cooperate with the investigation.
She had been called to discuss what she knew about the withholding of nearly $400 million in security aid for Ukraine. Republicans’ behaviors delayed her testimony over five hours, but resumed later in the day.
Representative Adam Schiff (CA-28, D) called the Sergeant-at-Arms to break up Republican’s protest as they attempted to storm the secure room, and delay the proceedings, where impeachment investigators were questioning a witness, where he is Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and was leading the deposition.
The inquiry is being led by the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees.
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