Tag: House Judiciary hearing

‘You know nothing!’ Ex-cop explodes on Jim Jordan as House Judiciary hearing goes off the rails

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Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), a former police officer, clashed with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Tuesday during a House Judiciary hearing.

“I served as a law enforcement officer for 27 years. It is a tough job. And good police officers deserve your support,” Demings said. She then accused Republicans of only supporting police when it is politically convenient, prompting Jordan to interrupt.

“Did I strike a nerve?” Demings responded, adding that police officers should not be used as political pawns. “You and your colleagues should be ashamed of yourselves.” Continue reading.

Rep. Jim Jordan yells and throws a hearing into chaos over his ‘fringe conspiracy theories’

AlterNet logoRep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) threw the entire House Judiciary Committee’s hearing with four of the top big tech CEOs into a three-ring circus on Wednesday when Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) opened her five-minute allotment of questioning by appearing to suggest he is a conspiracy theorist.

“I’d like to direct your attention to anti-trust law rather than fringe conspiracy theories,” Congresswoman Scanlon declared.

Congressman Jordan, both maskless and jacketless, broke House decorum by interrupting his colleague, and by shouting: “Mr. Chairman, we have the email – there is no fringe conspiracy –” Continue reading.

‘Selfie-seeking frat boy’ Matt Gaetz scorched in brutal takedown after House committee blow-up

AlterNet logoIn a brutally blunt look at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), the New Republic’s Jacob Bacharach paints a portrait of a publicity-seeking Washington newcomer storming the nation’s capital with an eye on mirroring the actions and rhetoric of the blustery president that he slavishly defends.

Following Gaetz’s “drama queen” performances while serving on the House Judiciary Committee, Bacharach recalls, “On October 23, a gaggle of House Republicans, led by Matt Gaetz of Florida, stormed the Capitol’s Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. Gaetz had hoped to expose the supposedly secretive nature of the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. “Stormed” was his own overly dramatic word (though Gaetz soon topped it by comparing his crew to the 300 glorious, nearly naked Spartans who, as you may recall, lost to a numerically superior force during the Battle of Thermopylae). A more accurate description would be to say they barged into a committee room like a bunch of entitled fussbudgets, argued with the committee chairman, took selfies, and then trundled off to hold a press conference.” Continue reading “‘Selfie-seeking frat boy’ Matt Gaetz scorched in brutal takedown after House committee blow-up”

Constitutional law expert applauded for laying out ‘no-nonsense’ Trump impeachment case during House Intel hearing: ‘A force to be reckoned with’

AlterNet logoThe House impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump entered a new phase on Wednesday, when the House Judiciary Committee held its first public hearing in the inquiry — and some of the most riveting testimony came from Pamela Karlan, a professor of constitutional law at Stanford University. Karlan laid out a tight case for impeachment, stressing that when Trump tried to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, he committed the type of impeachable offense that the Founding Fathers were worried about in 1789. And Karlan’s testimony has been receiving an abundance of high praise on Twitter.

Karlan became angry when Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia implied that she hadn’t read the evidence presented against Trump. The professor shot back, “I read transcripts of every one of the witnesses who appeared in the live hearing. I’m insulted by the suggestion that as a law professor, I don’t care about those facts.”

Karlan went on to explain that in 1789, the Founding Fathers were deeply concerned about foreign interference in U.S. politics — and Trump’s conduct was impeachable when he solicited such interference.

Continue reading

House Judiciary schedules first impeachment hearing, invites Trump

Hearing to review constitutional grounds for drafting articles of impeachment

The House Judiciary Committee has invited President Donald Trump to participate in a hearing next week on the constitutional justification for impeachment.

Chairman Jerrold Nadler announced that his panel will hold its first impeachment hearing at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The New York Democrat also wrote to the president asking if he intends to participate either personally or through his attorneys, pursuant to the House resolution that set the ground rules for the impeachment process.

“If you would like to participate in the hearing, please provide the Committee with notice as soon as possible, but no later than by 6:00 pm on December 1, 2019. By that time, I ask that you also indicate who will act as your counsel for these proceedings,” Nadler wrote.

View the complete November 26 article by Niels Lesniewski and Katherine Tully-McManus on The Roll Call website here.

White House blocks former Trump aide from answering House panel’s questions, angering Democrats

Washington Post logoThe White House on Wednesday blocked President Trump’s former aide Hope Hicks from answering dozens of questions from a House committee, an impasse that hands pro-impeachment Democrats another argument to start proceedings, even as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) pushed back.

During a closed-door interview with the House Judiciary Committee, a White House attorney and Justice Department lawyer argued that Hicks had immunity from questions about her West Wing tenure — although Hicks is a private citizen. The standoff — and the White House assertion of an exemption that Democrats said simply does not exist — immediately raised the prospect of the House asking a court to force her to testify.

The latest clash between House Democrats and the Trump administration in their ongoing war over Congress’s right to conduct oversight comes as nearly 70 House Democrats have called for an impeachment inquiry to begin. Indeed, some members of the Judiciary panel emerged from the nearly eight-hour session with Hicks predicting that the episode would only fortify their case that it was time to start proceedings.

View the complete June 19 article by Rachel Bade, Mike DeBonis and Hailey Fuchs on The Washington Post website here.