All nine Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee sent a letter to panel chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) in which they accuse him of “withholding the existence” of documents as part of the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
“The highly irregular manner in which you are conducting your so-called ‘impeachment inquiry’ gravely concerns us, as does the fact that you have decreed this matter to bee under HPSCI’s jurisdiction despite it lacking any clear intelligence component,” the letter reads. “Further, given that you have recently acknowledged that the Committee no longer needs to receive testimony from the whistleblower, your ‘impeachment inquiry’ lacks any relationship with the jurisdiction of this Committee.”
“As you are aware, the Committee was established to conduct crucial oversight of the Intelligence Comunity, and we are increasingly concerns about normal work is being overlooked in favor of partisan activities best suited for another Committee, the lawmakers added.
The letter is signed by Reps. Devin Nunes (D-CA), Michael Conaway (R-TX), Michael Turner (R-OH), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Chris Stewart (R-UT), Rick Crawford (R-AR), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Will Hurd (R-TX), and John Ratcliffe (R-TX).
The letter comes as House Republicans are preparing to vote Monday on censuring Schiff over his handling of the impeachment probe.
“What I have found with Adam Schiff is that three times to the American public he has lied,” House Minority Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said during a Friday press conference.
“When you serve on the intelligence committee, it’s different than any other committee in the House because you will read and gather information that members of the House can’t have knowledge,” added McCarthy. “So, when a member of the intelligence committee speaks about something, we hold them to a higher standard.”
As of Wednesday, nearly two-thirds (123) of House Republicans back House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs’ (R-AZ) resolution to condemn the California Democrat.
Schiff set off a political firestorm for recounting a fictional call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a recent committee hearing regarding a so-called “whistleblower’s” complaint about the call. He also made false statements about his panel having never spoken to the whistleblower, who recent reports state is a registered Democrat that worked with former Vice President Joe Biden in the Obama White House.
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