On his way into a secure room in the basement of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday morning, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) encountered a couple dozen House Republicans railing against the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
“They were basically in a scream therapy session, denouncing what they regarded as treachery … It was total boilerplate talking points from Russia,” Welch said. He paused to correct what may have been a Freudian slip. “From Trump.”
The Republicans had amassed outside the rooms in which members of three House committees have been taking testimony in recent weeks from witnesses in the impeachment probe. They were demanding to be let in, though only committee members are permitted to enter the so-called Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.
“I say ‘scream therapy’ and I’m actually not kidding,” Welch said of the impromptu press conference outside the committee rooms. “There were not analytical categories you could land on. No factual basis. Just a lot of rage.”
As Welch, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, waited for Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper to be sworn in, the Republican members burst through the doors and ground proceedings to a halt.
“A lot of them started yelling,” he recalled. “Some of them had apparently not had enough scream therapy outside, so they continued the session.”
Though members are not allowed to bring electronic devices into the secure facility, some were holding up cellphones to take photos and videos of the room, which Welch called “shocking.”
“I mean, this was a total breach of House rules,” he said of the disruption that delayed Cooper’s testimony for much of the day.
Though Welch may have been shocked, he wasn’t surprised. “What you’re seeing here is that their defense is everything but addressing the merits of the case,” he said. “Fundamentally, their goal was not to open the process. It was to stop the process.”
In Welch’s view, the case is quite simple: Trump called on the Ukrainian government to investigate the family of a political rival, former vice president Joe Biden, and withheld congressionally authorized security assistance in order to get his way. Tuesday’s testimony from William Taylor, the ambassador to Ukraine, was “very powerful, very convincing, very detailed,” Welch said, but what really matters is what the president himself said in a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“It all goes back to what I think is the smoking gun, so to speak — this scandal’s version of the Watergate tapes — and that’s the president’s readout of his conversation [with Zelensky],” Welch said. “It’s the president’s own words that are the most compelling evidence of what the president wanted. He said what he wanted. So someone like Ambassador Taylor was able to show how long-term and focused that was as a goal of the Trump administration.”
Though Welch called for Trump’s impeachment in July — before the Ukrainian situation came to light — he declined to say Wednesday how he would vote on whatever articles of impeachment might emerge from the current probe. “At this point my focus is not talking about how I’m going to vote,” he said. “My focus is on contributing to the effort to get evidence and have a process that meets the test of fairness for the American people.”
As for whether the Republicans who stormed the secure facility should be sanctioned in any way? “I don’t have a strong view of whether they should or shouldn’t. My goal is to move the process along,” Welch said. “I just want to get back on track.”
Disclosure: Paul Heintz worked as Peter Welch’s communications director from November 2008 to March 2011.
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Two things have to take place in Washington, one, term limits and two, no lawyers should be allowed to hold office.
Why is this a surprise? All Republicans are motivated only by hate and greed, devoid of honesty, integrity, decency or honor. This incredibly dishonest and hypocritical response by them to impeachment proceedings that are following Republican written rules just further illustrate how far they will go in order to protect Trump. Its disgusting but shouldnt be unexpected, you cant really expect vicious vermin to change who they are.
I forgot about McConnell and Graham.. They do as trump says. They’re his puppets like he is Putin’s and Kim Jung.. He loves the dictators because he’s acting like one himself!
Gosh, we have some rabid comments. There is one accusing the Democrats of doing all the secret bad stuff in Washington. “Bringing down a decent man” might be my favorite incorrect statement. Close follow-up: “Trump did this with a corrupt FBI, CIA & DOJ.” Gosh, he’s the only one we can trust? He’s not corrupt?
The committee in that room was comprised of both parties. The ones who wanted the meeting to either stop or go public were Republicans.
I would think people would recognize that Trump and his Party are not working in our interests. Aren’t there hundreds of bills McConnell won’t let come up for discussion? What’s open and honest about that?
People sure feel strongly about this. Divide and conquer…
As a mostly conservative politically and in how I view the world (take responsibility for your actions and decisions for example), the Democrats have one agenda since Trump was lawfully elected: impeaching him. Post-Trump: A growing, vibrant economy in America again, support for law enforcement on local, state and federal levels, making good on fixing our broken immigtation system despite no support from mostly Democrats who seem to think open borders is okay, challenging the anti-Semites in “The Squad, negotiating much fairer to America trade deals, well, I am impressed. Particularly since Trump did this with a corrupt FBI, CIA & DOJ. Democrats make up the rules as they go along. Once upon a time, and not all that long ago, Mueller was their golden boy who was going to bring Trump down. They failed to bring down a decent man, Kavanaugh. The Democrats write a new story full of lies and deceit every time they lose. They also continue to move the goal posts to suit their deranged agenda. It is disgusting to me to know these slimeballs are paid to do this and not do anything for Americans since Trump WON.
Give them bread and circus…
The most telling quote in the entire article? “I don’t have a strong view…”.
The Republicans in the senate and the House are a bunch of idiots… Their heads are so far up Trump’s ass it’s not funny!