Howell dismissed arguments by committee Republicans that the House must first vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry, calling the notion politically “appealing” but legally “fatally flawed.”AD“Even in cases of presidential impeachment, a House resolution has never, in fact, been required to begin an impeachment inquiry,” Howell said. In the cases of all three presidents who faced such an action — Andrew Johnson, Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton — the House Judiciary Committee had begun investigating or received grand jury materials before a full House vote, the judge said. At a hearing this month, Howell called “extreme” the arguments presented by administration lawyers who opposed the House request for Mueller grand jury materials. Justice Department attorneys had said that despite legal rulings during the impeachment inquiry into Nixon, in hindsight, courts in 1974 should not have given Congress materials from the Watergate grand jury. The impeachment inquiry on the Ukrainian interactions focuses on an intelligence community whistleblower’s complaint.

Source: Washington Post October 25, 2019 19:56 UTC