House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) lambasted Congress ahead of Thursday’s vote to formalize House Democrats’ closed-door impeachment proceedings, stating the chamber’s record this year contains “more subpoenas than laws.”
“This Congress’s records is more subpoenas than laws. That’s the legacy,” McCarthy said in his remarks during the House’s debate period. “It is not just devoid of solutions for the American people, it is now abusing its power to discredit democracy by using secret interviews and selective leaks to portray the president’s legitimate action as an impeachable defense.”
“Democrats are continuing their permanent campaign to undermine his legitimacy,” he added.
House Democrats will vote on the resolution, which is expected to pass with only a few party members voting against, on the chamber floor following a debate that began Thursday morning.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called for the measure after the White House and congressional Republicans complained that the impeachment investigation has not received a full floor vote. President Trump has called the inquiry “illegitimate” because it lacked a chamber vote.
Three House committees — on intelligence, foreign affairs, and oversight — are leading the investigation, which seeks to learn whether President Trump threatened to pull military aid to Ukraine as a pressure tactic for Kiev to investigate former vice president Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who formerly worked for a Ukrainian gas company.
President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have denied any pressure was applied to probe into the Biden family and the White House released a transcript of their call as evidence that no wrongdoing took place.
“There was no blackmail,” Zelensky told reporters when asked about the July 25 call. “We are not servants. We are an independent country.”
Many Republicans have been critical of the guarded, private way Democrats have so far led the inquiry — leading several to storm the deposition last week of a Ukraine policy expert in the Defense Department.
“It’s been limited and closed and frankly I think we’re moving toward a preordained result,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), the ranking Republican on the rules committee.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has slammed the inquiry a “sham” process, while Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has called it “totally antithetical to our constitutional principles.”
The UPI contributed to this report.
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