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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 10 sepTember 2019

Judiciary panel to set rules for impeachment investigation

By MARY CLARE JALONICK emptive pardons for law-
Associated Press breaking. More subpoenas
WASHINGTON (AP) — The are likely.
House Judiciary Commit- Meanwhile, several other
tee will vote Thursday to es- committees are also in-
tablish rules for hearings on vestigating the president
impeachment, escalating — though not under the
the panel’s investigations auspices of impeachment,
of President Donald Trump which is the jurisdiction of
even as many Democrats the Judiciary panel.
remain wary of the effort. In one of those probes,
The resolution is a techni- House Intelligence Com-
cal step, and the panel mittee Chairman Adam
would still have to intro- Schiff wrote former Nation-
duce impeachment arti- al Security Adviser Michael
cles against Trump and win Flynn and demanded that
approval from the House he appear for testimony on
to bring charges against Sept. 25. In the letter, dat-
Trump. It’s unclear if that ed Friday, Schiff said that
will ever happen, as House Flynn had failed to comply
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has with the panel’s June sub-
urged caution on the issue poena or “cooperate with
, saying the public still isn’t the committee’s efforts to
yet supportive of taking In this July 26, 2019, file photo, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., secure your compliance.”
those steps. prepares for a television news interview at the Capitol in Washington. Flynn admitted lying to the
Even if the House did rec- Associated Press FBI about his conversations
ommend impeachment informative to Congress to deliver a message to ignated by Nadler as part with the Russian ambas-
charges against the presi- and the public, while pro- then- Attorney General Jeff of the committee’s probe sador to the United States
dent, the Republican-led viding the president with Sessions asking him to limit into whether to recom- and awaits sentencing.
Senate is unlikely to convict the ability to respond to ev- Mueller’s probe. mend articles of impeach- The intelligence panel said
him and remove him from idence presented against The committee has also in- ment. also Monday that it will in-
office. him,” Nadler said in a state- vited two other witnesses The procedural vote vestigate possible efforts
Still, House Judiciary Com- ment. “We will not allow mentioned in the report, comes as the panel broad- by Trump and his personal
mittee Chairman Jerrold Trump’s continued obstruc- former White House aides ens its impeachment probe lawyer, former New York
Nadler has said that the tion to stop us from deliver- Rick Dearborn and Rob beyond Mueller’s report, City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to
committee will move for- ing the truth to the Ameri- Porter. The White House has which has consumed most pressure the government
ward with impeachment can people.” previously blocked former of the committee’s en- of Ukraine to assist Trump’s
hearings this fall, bolstered The committee has also employees from testifying, ergy since it was released 2020 presidential cam-
by lawmakers on the panel filed two lawsuits against but Lewandowski never of- in April. The Judiciary pan- paign.
who roundly support mov- the administration after the ficially worked for the White el, along with the House The intelligence panel,
ing forward. The vote on White House repeatedly House. Oversight and Govern- along with the House For-
Thursday will set rules for blocked the panel from ob- The resolution that the ment Reform Committee, eign Relations Committee
those hearings, empower- taining documents and tes- committee will consider announced Friday that and the Oversight com-
ing staff to question wit- timony. Pelosi has said she Thursday would set param- they are demanding infor- mittee, are demanding re-
nesses, allowing some evi- wants to see what happens eters for the panel’s im- mation about the spend- cords related to those ef-
dence to remain private in court before making any peachment hearings in an ing of taxpayer money at forts. The committees said
and permitting the presi- decisions on impeach- attempt to give lawmakers the president’s hotels and in a joint release that the
dent’s counsel to respond ment. more powers to investigate properties, partly to inform record request is a “first
to testimony. The first hearing under the the president. It would allow the impeachment investi- step in a broad investiga-
The committee says that new impeachment rules committee lawyers to ques- gation. tion into this matter.”
the resolution is similar to would be with Corey Le- tion witnesses for an ad- Aside from reviewing his Giuliani said earlier this year
procedural votes taken at wandowski on Sept. 17, ditional hour — 30 minutes use of Trump’s properties, that he would travel to Kiev
the beginning of the im- the panel also announced for each side — beyond the Judiciary panel is also to urge the government to
peachment investigations Monday. Lewandowski the five minutes allowed for expected to investigate investigate the origins of
into Presidents Richard Nix- was frequently mentioned committee lawmakers. Evi- hush money payments Mueller’s probe and the in-
on and Bill Clinton. in former special counsel dence would be allowed Trump made to kill poten- volvement of former Vice
“The adoption of these ad- Robert Mueller’s report , in private session to protect tially embarrassing stories, President Joe Biden’s son
ditional procedures is the which the committee has the confidentiality of sensi- and has subpoenaed the in a gas company owned
next step in that process been investigating. Ac- tive materials, and any full Department of Homeland by a Ukrainian oligarch.
and will help ensure our im- cording to Mueller’s report, committee or subcommit- Security to explore whether Giuliani later scrapped that
peachment hearings are Trump asked Lewandowski tee hearing could be des- the president offered pre- trip.q