Republicans Storm and Disrupt FAKE Impeachment Hearings

Republicans brought House Democrats’ impeachment investigation to a halt on Wednesday as around two dozen GOP House members stormed into a closed-door deposition with a Defense Department official. Democrats said the move compromised national security as some of them brought electronic devices into a secure room.

As a series of diplomats have been interviewed in the probe, several of them detailing President Donald Trump’s efforts to persuade Ukraine to investigate a political rival, many Republicans have been silent on the president’s behavior. But they have been outspoken about their disdain for Democrats and the impeachment process, saying it is unfair to them even though they have been allowed to participate.

“The members have just had it and they want to be able to see and represent their constituents and find out what’s going on,” said Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform panel. That committee is one of three leading the investigation, and its members are allowed into the closed-door hearings.

Jordan said things were at a “standstill.” And after several hours, a handful of members remained in the room. The deposition with Laura Cooper, a senior Defense Department official who oversees Ukraine policy, was temporarily on hold.

The Republicans decried that the deposition was happening behind closed doors and said Americans should be able to read the transcripts of any interviews being conducted as part of impeachment.

Democrats have promised to release the transcripts when it won’t affect their investigation, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has pushed back on the criticism of the depositions.

Schiff said in a letter to colleagues last week that “the majority and minority have been provided equal staff representation and time to question witnesses, who have stayed until the majority and the minority have asked all of their questions – often late into the evening.”

Several Republicans appeared to be tweeting from the secure room. North Carolina Rep. Mark Walker tweeted: “UPDATE: We are in the SCIF and every GOP Member is quietly listening.” Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter wrote that “my Republican colleagues and I just stormed the impeachment hearing room and finally got in.”