Much of the consternation that exists regarding the current state of the Democrats’ “formal impeachment inquiry” has to do with the bizarre and possessive behavior of House Intel Committee Chair Adam Schiff.
Schiff has been instrumental in creating the environment that we see today, both on Capitol Hill and within the mainstream media. By refusing to immediately call for a resolution to establish the rules of engagement, Schiff and his cronies on the House Intelligence Committee were able to control the flow of information for several weeks, giving themselves a might head start when it came to the public perception of the process.
Now, even with a House-passed resolution outlining the rules and guidelines for these public impeachment hearings, Schiff is marching to the beat of his own drum and straying from the path he himself paved.
House Oversight Chairman Adam Schiff interrupted House Republicans’ questions of Ambassador Bill Taylor on Wednesday, a stunning breach of Congressional order.
The Republican counsel questioned Taylor about whether he could understand that Trump was concerned that some Ukrainians had worked against him in the 2016 presidential election.
Schiff interrupted after Republicans were only ten minutes into their questioning, warning the Ambassador that if he was unable to “assume facts not in evidence” before him were correct.
Members of the GOP were stunned at Schiff’s unwillingness to play by even his own rules.
“Are you seriously interrupting our time here?” House Minority Chairman Devin Nunes asked incredulously.
Rep. John Ratcliffe protested Schiff’s sudden rule change after Democrats spent the first portion of the hearing with leading questions and hearsay.
“I sat here through the first 45 minutes and literally had an objection to almost the foundation of almost every question that Mr. Goldman asked regarding facts not in evidence, leading,” he fired back at Schiff.
Schiff had previously intimated that he would be disallowing any questioning by Republican committee members that didn’t fall within the narrow purview he outlined early in the process. This has been viewed as an inexcusable disservice to the American people who, above all, deserve the whole truth during these trying times.
