GOP's opening salvo on impeachment hearings requires America's absolute ignorance of the facts
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In advance of the first public hearings in the impeachment inquiry Wednesday, Republicans and Democrats worked to draw the battle lines for the American people. “We intend to conduct these hearings with the seriousness and professionalism the public deservGOP's opening salvo on impeachment hearings requires America's absolute ignorance of the facts
In advance of the first public hearings in the impeachment inquiry Wednesday, Republicans and Democrats worked to draw the battle lines for the American people. “We intend to conduct these hearings with the seriousness and professionalism the public deserves,” House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff wrote in a letter to his colleagues. «The process will be fair to the President, the Committee Members, and the witnesses.” Schiff also released a six-page memo outlining the rules of engagement for the hearings. Following up on questioning from Republicans intended to reveal the identity of the whistleblower, Schiff preemptively warned that members “shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House,» according to the House Code of Official Conduct. «I will do my utmost during the hearings to safeguard the rights of the witnesses and all Members of the Committee, just as Committee Members should strive to conduct themselves with “dignity, propriety, courtesy, and decorum.” And in a preview of the questioning, Schiff also noted that he plans to »yield extensive time" to the lead lawyer for the Democratic majority. Only after the conclusion of that extended questioning will members be recognized for their customary five-minute rounds. Republicans, on the other hand, sought to dismiss the entirety of the public hearings as an unnecessary and partisan-driven endeavor. The game for House Republicans is to keep the number of their members who ultimately vote for any articles of impeachment to zero—the same number of GOP lawmakers who supported the procedural vote to move forward with the inquiry. Keeping that number as low as possible in the House will allow Trump to dismiss the whole inquiry as a partisan sham and create more incentive for GOP senators to follow suit and vote for acquittal in the Senate. Read more