Capitol Hill Republicans delivered a one-two punch Tuesday in the partisan fight over President Trump’s impeachment.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he secured the votes needed to disregard House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s demand for trial witnesses as a condition of transmitting articles of impeachment.
Pelosi’s demand is delaying Trump’s trial, which had been expected to begin this week.
Meanwhile, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee signaled they would investigate the whistleblower office that handled the complaint sparking the inquiry, opening a potential path for Trump allies to undermine the origins of the case.
A source said committee Republicans are reviewing facts around the Aug. 12 complaint that described Trump pushing Ukraine to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden as he withheld military aid to Ukraine.
While House Republicans are in the minority and lack powerful committee tools that can be used to force the release of information, their staff can still pursue lines of inquiry.
The review follows Republican oversight of the FBI’s Russia probe of Trump’s campaign, which ultimately produced evidence of misconduct in the filing of warrant requests and the anti-Trump biases of investigators.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-California), the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, told Fox News that Republicans have an “active investigation” of the intelligence community’s inspector general, Michael Atkinson.
Fox reported this involves the truthfulness of Atkinson’s testimony, his handling of the whistleblower complaint and questions about the complaint form used.
A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the inspector general’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
While McConnell wants to delay decisions on impeachment witnesses, some Trump defenders are floating their own demands.
“The important thing to point out here is President Trump very much wants to call witnesses,” said Jason Miller, a former Trump campaign spokesman. “If there are any witnesses called, the whistleblower has to be number one.”
McConnell says witness decisions should be made midway through Trump’s trial. Democrats had hoped to enlist enough moderate Senate Republicans to force a deal on witnesses, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
Moderate Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska publicly sided with McConnell on making witness decisions after a trial begins, as was done in 1999 during the Bill Clinton impeachment trial, though both senators expressed interest in ultimately hearing witnesses.
Democrats are reluctant to proceed without a deal because Republicans control the Senate, and there’s no guarantee witnesses will be called once the trial begins.
