Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) said that House Republicans have “full access” to the interviews Democrats are conducting behind closed doors as part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA)’s impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.
“The Republicans are sitting right there,” Bass said in an interview on Wednesday with National Public Radio (NPR). “They have full access to everything that’s going on.”
“We are invited,” Bass said. “If you serve on one of the three committees, anyone can come in the room.”
“And so this is not hidden from them,” Bass said. “This is not a secretive process.”
“That’s disingenuous,” Bass said.
Noel King, host of NPR’s Morning Edition, asked Bass about the testimony of Ambassador William Taylor who was the top U.S. diplomat in the Ukraine and has no direct knowledge of any alleged quid pro quo.
“So what were your biggest takeaways from this deposition that some of your colleagues have called damning?” King asked.
“I will say first of all that Ambassador Taylor is a patriot, a courageous leader that we should thank, especially thinking down the line,” Bass said. “Historically, I believe he will be remembered that way.”
“How does Ambassador Taylor’s testimony fit with the other testimony that Congress has heard so far in this matter?” King asked. Bass said:
Well, I think that it’s more and more evidence piling up. But what I believe is happening right now is, within the intelligence community and the State Department, I think people have had enough. I think people have been disrespected and abused, essentially, for the last 2 1/2 years.
“Let me just ask you briefly – Republicans took to the floor yesterday after Ambassador Taylor testified. They said all of this is a sham. It is secretive. It’s going behind – it’s going on behind closed doors. What do you think of that?”
Bass replied:
Well, first of all, it’s not a sham. It’s important for us to receive testimony and hear from people right now behind closed doors so that they’re not tracking their testimony. However, I know that this will go to an open hearings very soon. But it is important that we bring everybody in first, we hear their testimony.
As Breitbart News reported, the impeachment process is anything but transparent, and on Wednesday a throng of Republicans tried to join the investigation:
Led by House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), the Republican lawmakers attempted to enter the room where Schiff has been bringing in current and former State Department officials to testify on whether President Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine in exchange for alleged help with the 2020 election.
“Behind those doors they intend to overturn the results of an American presidential election. We want to know what is going on,” Gaetz said during a press conference beforehand.
“We are going to try and go in there, and we’re going to try to figure out what is going on behalf of the millions of Americans that we represent, who want to see Congress working for them, and not obsessed with attacking a president who we believe has not done anything to deserve impeachment,” Gaetz said.
Last week, 184 Republicans backed a bill to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) for mishandling the impeachment inquiry.
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