Schiff: Impeachment inquiry report to be delivered ‘soon’ after Thanksgiving recess
Schiff left open the possibility of more closed-door depositions or open hearings
House Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff says his committee, along with the Oversight and Foreign Affairs panels, will transmit a report on the evidence gathered so far in the impeachment inquiry “soon after Congress returns from the Thanksgiving recess,” but he didn’t discount the possibility of more depositions or hearings.
In a Dear Colleague letter Monday, Schiff left open the possibility of more closed-door depositions or open hearings if new evidence comes to light or if White House and other executive branch witnesses decide to comply with subpoenas previously issued and ignored.
[Fiona Hill forceful, direct in countering Republican defense of Trump]
Schiff said the president’s effort to prevent their testimony “further demonstrates consciousness of guilt on the part of the President.”
The report will be turned over to the House Judiciary Committee, led by Jerrold Nadler. That panel will take the lead in the next phase of the impeachment inquiry, deciding whether or not to draft articles of impeachment.
The report will include all the instances of noncompliance with subpoenas, and Schiff said the Judiciary Committee can use that information to decide whether to include an article of impeachment focused on obstruction of Congress based on those instances.