House Democrat pledges ‘there will be open hearings’ in impeachment inquiry

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that the House will hold open hearings in its impeachment inquiry into President Trump, though the pace of new revelations made it difficult to predict when that would be.

Himes dismissed concerns from House Republicans, brought up by CBS “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan, about a lack of transparency in the inquiry.

{mosads}”What is happening is that there is no way for the Republicans to defend the actions of the president here,” he said. “So as a result what they’re doing is that they’re attacking the process.”

Himes said impeachment proceedings for former Presidents Clinton and Nixon were more transparent than the current inquiry because they were based on existing investigations compiled by special prosecutors.

In those cases, “the Congress was handed a fully done investigation,” he said, adding that “we’re doing that now, and an investigation doesn’t happen in the light of day, but I will tell you that there will be open hearing.”

NEWS: @jahimes tells @margbrennan that Democrats will hold open hearings on impeachment and the Ukraine controversy but timing and witnesses are unclear. https://t.co/Iwf2zsW3DE pic.twitter.com/bTvgWf1Dc8

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 20, 2019

Himes also said the House needed to further understand Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani’s role in U.S.-Ukraine relations as part of its impeachment inquiry.

“Rudy Giuliani running around, meeting with heads of state on behalf of the president’s political interests is a profoundly shocking and important thing for us to understand,” Himes said. “Based on what the administration has disclosed, I really think it’s important to talk to Rudy Giuliani.”