A House panel eager to impeach President Trump will adopt rare investigative procedures next week to bolster its probe, tools used in previous impeachments of American presidents.
House Judiciary Committee members discussed the resolution — which would, among other things, allow panel counsel to question witnesses — during a Friday call, first reported by Politico.
Sources familiar with the vote have framed it as the first formal step on the road to possibly impeaching Trump.
But senior Democratic sources cautioned that such phrasing was overblown, downplaying the vote as a tool to help the committee investigate, rather than a move toward impeachment. And some in House Democratic leadership circles have expressed frustration that Judiciary panel members are saying they’re an official impeachment proceeding when they are not; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has yet to back impeachment proceedings.
The glaring divide will only become more evident as lawmakers return to Washington on Monday. The Judiciary Committee has a busy investigative agenda this fall and a panel full of lawmakers who feel leadership has been dragging their feet on holding Trump accountable.
Plus, a majority of House Democrats are now on record supporting an impeachment inquiry.
But Pelosi and her leadership have continued to frame Judiciary's actions as one part of a broader investigation into the president. That caution stems from polling that suggests the general public does not support ousting Trump, even as most Democrats do.
Despite the semantics game and mixed messaging, the Judiciary panel rules changes certainly highlight an escalation of the committee’s work. It resembles something the Judiciary Committee did in 1973, two weeks after the “Saturday Night Massacre” when Richard Nixon fired several Justice Department officials for refusing to fire the special counsel investigating his administration.
Then, without the full House acting on impeachment, the Judiciary Committee started its own inquiry that put in place staff to oversee the investigation of Nixon and prepare for the possibility of impeachment. The full House did not vote to start an impeachment inquiry until Feb. 6, 1974, and even then the Judiciary Committee spent more than two months compiling evidence, issuing subpoenas, reviewing materials and preparing witnesses before formally holding an impeachment hearing in May 1974.
In 1998, the GOP-led panel activated similar authorities to bolster the impeachment inquiry against President Bill Clinton. Those rules have also been used in probes led by congressional investigative panels, including for Iran-contra.
The Judiciary resolution, which will be voted on Wednesday, is still being finalized. But those familiar with the resolution expect that it will allow panel staff to question witnesses for an additional hour during hearings. It would also allow the panel to discuss evidence in closed session, a move the panel wants to protect confidential information — potentially even grand jury material.
The Judiciary Committee has appealed to a federal judge seeking to the underlying evidence and grand jury information that informed former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report. Panel investigators believe those documents hold damaging evidence about Trump, but Attorney General William P. Barr has ignored a subpoena to turn over the information.
The resolution will also allow the president’s attorney’s to respond in writing to any evidence or testimony the panel receives.
The changes in the Judiciary panel rule come ahead of a series of blockbuster hearings the committee is hoping to host in September and October. The committee is slated to dig into allegations that Trump participated in an illicit campaign finance scheme to silence women in 2016 and is using the Oval Office to enrich himself.
Paul Kane contributed to this report
