Casey Burgat at LegBranch.org:
[T]he Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over impeachment in the House, inserted an interesting twist into the proceedings when its chairman, Jerry Nadler, D-NY, released his committee’s internal procedures for impeachment moving forward. Among other things, the procedures detail the president’s rights in any impeachment proceedings. The three-page document is a signal that House Democrats may be ready to play hardball with the administration should it continue to stonewall the investigation inquiry.
Specifically, section F of the Judiciary procedures creates a loophole for Democrats to take away the president’s ability to call witnesses or question witnesses that otherwise will appear before the panel “should the president unlawfully refuse to make witnesses available for testimony… or produce documents requested” by the any of the House’s investigative committees.
The provision appears to be an attempt by House Democrats to force compliance by an administration that has issued blanket orders for witnesses to stonewall the House’s subpoenas to testify and produce relevant documents. In short, it stipulates, “Don’t respect the committees and your rights to participate in your own impeachment proceedings will be stripped.”
