Thursday, February 13, 2020

So, which party is the "do nothing" one?

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee boycotted a subcommittee hearing Wednesday, in a sign that the panel's partisan clashes during the impeachment inquiry are festering even after that chapter has come to a close.

In a letter explaining their decision to skip the hearing, Republicans blasted Democrats for not examining the issue of surveillance abuse after Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a report detailing significant abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by intelligence community officials. The abuses were related to wiretap applications for former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

[...]

The letter was signed by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the full panel, and other GOP members.

“Until the Committee prioritizes oversight activities related to urgent and critical concerns, Republican Members cannot support distractions from our core responsibilities,” it stated.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) announced the GOP boycott in his opening remarks, criticizing it in the process.

He said the subcommittee’s ranking member, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah), and other Republicans had sent him their letter earlier Wednesday describing the decision.

Himes also said that while the letter protested the subcommittee hearing's focus on the intelligence community’s use of emerging technologies, he had previously been told the boycott was about prior grievances.

[...]

Himes said he had asked Stewart last week what was going on with Republicans ahead of the hearing.

He said Stewart told him that Nunes felt strongly that the GOP committee members should not engage in committee work “because of some perceived grievance with the impeachment investigation.”

  The Hill
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

No comments: