It is astonishing that Rep. Jaime Hererra Beutler has been in the House for nine years and yet she does not know the rules. I watched the video on her website where she complains about the secrecy of the witness depositions in the impeachment inquiry. This is a ridiculous stunt on her part. The current House rules (for which Herrera Beutler voted) were changed in January 2015 by the Republicans when they became the majority party. The Democrats are following those rules but the Republicans are complaining because they are now in the minority.
Three committees took witness statements under oath behind closed doors, as was done in the last two impeachment inquiries of Nixon and Clinton, and there are a total of 45 Republicans on the committees. This portion of the proceedings is similar to a grand jury, which is always secret. The Republicans are allowed to question the witnesses for the same amount of time as the Democrats. These are not the impeachment hearings, which must be held in public by the House Judiciary Committee.
Republicans can’t defend Trump on the facts, or on the law, so they are attacking the process they created.
