Washington – Republican lawmakers,
encouraged by President Donald Trump to get tougher in fighting
Democrats' attempts to impeach him, on Wednesday disrupted the
US House of Representatives impeachment inquiry and prevented
a Pentagon official from testifying.
The Republicans stormed into a hearing room where Laura
Cooper, the US defence official who oversees Ukraine and
Russia matters, was due to testify behind closed doors and began
yelling, lawmakers and aides said.
The impeachment inquiry focuses on Trump's request for
Ukraine to investigate a domestic rival, Democrat Joe Biden,
for his personal political benefit.
In a dramatic confrontation during an escalating probe that
threatens Trump's presidency even as he seeks re-election next
year, Capitol police were called in to clear the room and bring
order, a Republican congressional aide said.
A witness inside the room said the Republicans brought
cellphones into the high-security facility where electronic
devices are forbidden.
"They're freaked out. They're trying to stop this
investigation," Democratic Representative Ted Lieu said.
"They
don't want to hear from witness Cooper today. They know more
facts are going to be delivered which are absolutely damning to
the president of the United States."
Republicans have called the rules for the impeachment
inquiry set by the leaders of the Democratic-led House unfair.
The U.S. Constitution gives the House wide latitude in how to
conduct the impeachment process and set rules for the inquiry.
Republican Representative Mark Meadows told reporters of the situation in the hearing room: "There's about 20 members (lawmakers) down there, at least a dozen that are not on the three committees. And they're going to wait until there's a more open and transparent process."
The witness who saw the events said the Republican lawmakers
pushed past Capitol Police personnel and started yelling,
voicing their objections to decisions made by the Democratic
leaders of the House to hold depositions in closed sessions and
not release transcripts of the testimony.
Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, an outspoken Trump
supporter who led Wednesday's action, had tried to enter the
committee room last week but was turned away because he was not
a member of any of the three committees leading the
investigation.
Democratic Representative Stephen Lynch, who is allowed to
attend depositions as a member of House Oversight Committee,
said Cooper did not testify. A House aide said the day's
impeachment-related proceedings were suspended for the time
being.
Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell said the Republicans had compromised a secure area of the Capitol,
obstructing the impeachment inquiry and sought to intimidate a
witness, but would not delay the impeachment probe overall.
"We see this a an effort not only to intimidate this witness
but also to intimidate future witnesses from coming forward.
It's not going to work," Swalwell added. "We're not going to be
deterred."
Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defence for
Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, earlier in the day arrived for
testimony and was expected to face questions about Trump's
decision this year to withhold $391 million in security
assistance to Ukraine approved by Congress.
In testimony to the inquiry on Tuesday, William Taylor, the
top US diplomat in Ukraine, said Trump had made the aid
contingent on Ukraine announcing it would conduct politically
motivated investigations the president demanded.
Trump on Monday said "Republicans have to get
tougher and fight" the impeachment, saying the Democrats
"vicious and they stick together".
"It never ends. The Do Nothing Dems are terrible!" Trump
wrote on Twitter earlier on Wednesday, later adding their "case
is DEAD!".
Before the hearing room was stormed, dozens of House
Republicans appeared before reporters with some denouncing the
impeachment process run by Democrats as a "joke," a "railroad
job," a "charade" and "Soviet-style".
They complained that
testimony was being taken privately rather than in public
hearings and that the House did not hold a vote formally
authorizing the investigation.
"It is a sham, and it's time for it to end," Republican
congressman Mark Walker said.
The inquiry could lead to the House passing formal charges
known as articles of impeachment, prompting a trial in the
Republican-controlled Senate on whether to remove Trump from
office. Senate Republicans have shown little appetite for
removing Trump.
As she arrived at the US Capitol, Cooper did not answer
questions from reporters. She apparently appeared voluntarily
before the lawmakers as the Pentagon had not blocked her from
testifying.
The Trump administration had sought to block
testimony by several other current and former officials.
Taylor testified that he was told by the US envoy to the
European Union that Trump had linked the aid's release to
public declarations by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
that he would investigate Biden, his son Hunter Biden's tenure
on the board of a Ukrainian energy company called Burisma, and a
debunked conspiracy theory in which Trump
asked Zelenskiy to carry out those two investigations. Zelenskiy
agreed during the call. The aid was later provided.
Federal election law prohibits candidates from accepting
foreign help in an election.
So far, few of Trump's fellow conservatives have appeared
inclined toward his removal, though there have been some cracks
in their support.
Senator John Thune, the Senate's No 2
Republican, told reporters that the picture painted by Taylor's
testimony "based on the reporting that we've seen is not a good
one".