Matt Gaetz wants impeachment hearings packed with Republicans who will protect Trump
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said the GOP is ‘failing’ Donald Trump if it doesn’t pack the House Intelligence Committee with loyalists.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said on Tuesday that his fellow Republicans who have “skipped” impeachment hearings held in the House Intelligence Committee should be replaced. Gaetz also said that if his recommendations aren’t followed the party would be guilty of “failing” Donald Trump.
Gaetz’s comment contradicts many of the recent complaints from Republicans who have falsely alleged that they have been shut out of the proceedings.
“If @Jim_Jordan @RepMarkMeadows & @RepLeeZeldin aren’t moved on in favor of Republicans who have skipped a majority of the testimony, then shame on us for failing @realDonaldTrump,” he wrote.
The admission that Republicans simply haven’t attended the hearings comes just a few days after Rep. Steve Scalise, the House minority whip, took to the House floor and accused Democrats of holding a “Soviet-style” impeachment process.
In fact, Republicans on the committee have been free to attend hearings and ask questions of the witnesses.
Republican leaders are reportedly considering placing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on the committee as the party continues to lose the war of public opinion over impeachment. Placing Jordan on the committee would require the removal of a current member.
“The move would also undermine Devin Nunes, the committee’s top Republican,” CBS News noted, adding, “Jordan is viewed by some Republican colleagues as better equipped than Nunes to be the Republican face of the inquiry because of his experience running investigations on the Oversight Committee.”
Jordan has led the Republican response to the inquiry by constantly complaining about the process being used by Democrats. Jordan has also repeatedly complained about how the allegations from the whistleblower who first alerted Congress to Donald Trump’s activities with Ukraine have been handled.
Instead of directly responding to whether it was ethical or legal for Trump to pressure Ukraine to go after former Vice President Joe Biden, Jordan has focused on external issues.
Gaetz helped to amplify that campaign by leading a group of unauthorized Republicans into the sensitive compartmented information facility, also know at the SCIF, where the committee hearings have been held. The stunt disrupted the hearings and violated the security protocols for the facility when Republican congressmen brought unsecured devices inside.
The push for Jordan makes it clear that high-profile members of the Republican caucus like Gaetz are concerned with the current direction of the probe and its prospects for Trump and the Republican Party.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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