Top Republican on House Judiciary Committee calls for Adam Schiff to testify
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Dec 2, 2019
His firm Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC, "received regular transfers into one of its accounts - usually more than $166,000 a month - from Burisma from spring 2014 through fall 2015, during a period when Vice President Biden was the main USA official dealing with Ukraine and its tense relations with Russian Federation", according to reports.
Hearings before the committee, which has responsibility for crafting any formal charges against Trump, are a major step toward possible charges.
In a letter dated Friday, Nov. 29, Nadler said President Trump has until December 6 to make his decision on the proceedings. But in a letter to supporters last week, she called for him to be held accountable for his actions. Democrats started this impeachment process without allowing Republicans to have any say in what was taking place.
The White House and State Department have refused to comply with subpoenas.
The White House has until 6 p.m. on Sunday to respond to the first letter, and until 5 p.m. on Friday to respond to the second.
The expected release of the report, coming 11 days after the last public hearing conducted by the Intelligence Committee, continues a breakneck pace for House Democrats as they investigate the potential impeachment of the president.
Democratic staffers on the Intelligence Committee worked through the Thanksgiving recess completing their report, while lawmakers spent the week at home in their districts.
Asked Sunday if he sees anything wrong with Trump asking Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a request that is the focus of the ongoing impeachment inquiry, Collins defended the president.
Rep. Doug Collins said Sunday that Republicans plan to call witnesses when the House Judiciary Committee takes up the impeachment case against President Trump.
While it would be to Trump's advantage to have his lawyers participate, it's understandable that he's upset about the "illegitimate process", Republican Representative Tom McClintock of California, also a member of the Judiciary Committee, said on ABC. "We're certainly anxious to hear his explanation of that".
In September, Trump fired Bolton from his job as national security adviser, citing policy disagreements.
On Friday, Nadler gave The White House a week to decide whether it will send its attorneys to participate in the next set of hearings that he will oversee.
He said calls from Republicans for him to do so signal that "they are not serious about what they are doing".
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and called the impeachment inquiry a witch hunt aimed at unseating a democratically elected president. If the House impeaches him, the Republican-controlled Senate would hold a trial to determine whether he should be convicted and removed from office.
But they have put forth numerous arguments against impeachment during the two weeks of public hearings - noting that the aid was ultimately delivered, for instance, and that Trump had good reason to question rampant corruption in Ukraine and put strings on any US aid delivered there. "We didn't say, well, since you weren't successful, we caught you, you weren't successful, so we just let you go and forget it".