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In an attempt to halt the impeachment inquiry, Trump plans to send a letter to House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Friday that will “dare” her to hold an impeachment inquiry vote.
The letter states that the White House will not cooperate with any efforts by the House of Representatives to obtain materials relating to impeachment unless such a vote is held.
The letter will be consistent in tone with another produced by Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, wherein he alleges that the current impeachment investigations aren’t allowing the minority party (Republicans) to question people who are being interviewed.
McCarthy complains of the process undertaken by House Democrats in his letter. “Unfortunately, you have given no clear indication as to how your impeachment inquiry will proceed — including whether key historical precedents or basic standards of due process will be observed,” the Minority Leader writes.
“In addition, the swiftness and recklessness with which you have proceeded [have] already resulted in committee chairs attempting to limit minority participation in scheduled interviews, calling into question the integrity of such an inquiry.”
Pelosi was quick to retort, reminding the House Minority Leader “Existing rules of the House provide House committees with full authority to conduct investigations for all matters under their jurisdiction.” Under current House rules, there’s nothing stating that individual committees can’t use their oversight power to help gather information for a formal impeachment vote.
On Twitter, Pelosi doubled down, stating “The fact that the House Republicans’ loyalty is to Trump and not to the Constitution is not going to slow down or impair our ability to keep the republic our founders envisioned.”
Related: Trump Begs “Most LOYAL” Supporters for Cash after Impeachment Inquiry
The political climate is currently tense, to say the least. House Democrats are moving their impeachment inquiry at a rapid pace, interviewing key White House officials and obtaining materials related to Trump’s July 25 call with the Ukrainian president. On that call, it appears as though Trump encouraged his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Joe Biden, one of his political rivals.
This, coupled with the Trump administration withholding military aid from Ukraine, has been seen by many as a tacit quid pro quo scenario in which the White House tried to coax a foreign government into getting involved with Americans politics.
