All nine GOP members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) wrote a scathing letter to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Friday accusing him of concealing documents related to Democrats’ “highly irregular” impeachment inquisition and demanding that they rectify their behavior.
Here:https://t.co/z8at6Rz2wH pic.twitter.com/bcvWE9G7Z1
— Byron York (@ByronYork) October 18, 2019
“We are concerned that the Majority is knowingly withholding Committee documents related to your so-called ‘impeachment inquiry’ from the Minority,” the letter reads. “…it has come to our attention that the Majority is not uploading (or providing physical copies of) certain Committee documents related to your ‘impeachment inquiry’ to its document repository, thus withholding the existence of such documents from the Minority.”
Republican HPSCI members identified 21 specific documents that have yet to be shared with the Minority and called the secrecy unprecedented.
“We expect that the Majority adhere to the Committee’s past precedents and that appropriately cleared staff have immediate access to all documents generated or received by the Committee related to your impeachment inquiry. We see no reason for your withholding of these documents except as a deliberate attempt to hinder the Minority’s participation,” the letter states.
“The highly irregular manner in which you are conducting your so-called “impeachment inquiry” gravely concerns us, as does the fact that you have decreed this matter to be under HPSCI’s jurisdiction despite it lacking any clear intelligence component.”
The letter goes on to blast Schiff for flip-flopping on the so-called “whistleblower’s” testimony.
The Intel Committe chairman furiously back-peddled after reports surfaced that the “whistleblower” and his staff had met prior to the complaint being lodged. Realizing that the complainant would be asked questions about potential coordination under oath, Schiff did an about-face, and is now actively opposing his testimony.
Now that the complainant’s testimony is no longer being sought, Republicans say the inquiry is no longer in the purview of the Intelligence Committee.
Further, given that you have recently acknowledged that the Committee no longer needs to receive testimony from the whistleblower, your ‘impeachment inquiry’ lacks any relationship with the jurisdiction of this Committee. As you are aware, the Committee was established to conduct crucial oversight of the Intelligence Community, and we are increasingly concerned our normal work is being overlooked in favor of partisan activities best suited for another Committee.
The Republicans concluded their letter by stating that they expect Intel Democrats to “rectify these concerns and begin planning intelligence-related committee events starting next week.”
Reps John Ratcliffe (R-TX) and Devin Nunes (R-CA) both took the opportunity to blast Democrats on Friday for engaging in this hypocritical and deceptive chicanery.
https://twitter.com/RepRatcliffe/status/1185221267412127745?s=20
After listing numerous examples of Democrats/Socialists collaborating with Russia/Ukraine, Rep. Nunes made sure to note that “Democrats on this very committee” (Schiff and his staff) negotiated with people who they thought were Ukrainians in order to obtain nude pictures of Trump.”
Reminder of Dem/Socialists colluding and collaborating with Russians/Ukrainians pic.twitter.com/8Fv0d2PSoj
— Devin Nunes (@DevinNunes) October 18, 2019
Nunes was, of course, referring to the time a pair of Russian comedians managed to fool Schiff into believing they had kompromat on President Trump that included naked pictures of Trump with a Russian model after the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013.