Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney asked Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “immediately release” all transcripts related to the impeachment inquiry.
She told Pelosi in a letter that the “selective leaking” of comments made by witnesses must stop and the public must be allowed to determine for themselves the importance of the testimony. The House voted in favor of an impeachment inquiry on Thursday, with only two Democrats voting with Republicans to oppose the measure.
U.S. Representative Liz Cheney addresses the media during the 2017 “Congress of Tomorrow” Joint Republican Issues Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Jan. 25, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Makela
“Despite the vote in the House on October 31, House Democrats continue to conduct the partisan effort to impeach the President in secret,” Cheney wrote in correspondence to Pelosi.
“Your duty to the Constitution and the American people, as well as fundamental fairness, requires that you immediately release the full transcripts of all depositions taken since you pronounced the beginning of an impeachment inquiry on September 24, 2019,” the letter noted. (RELATED: Speaker Nancy Pelosi Compares Impeachment To American Revolution)
Republicans have accused Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff of riding roughshod over the legal rights of President Donald Trump. Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said the Senate should refuse to consider an impeachment trial because the inquiry has been “illegitimate.”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC), speaks during a hearing on June 11, 2019. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Cheney was particularly critical of how the impeachment inquiry has unfolded thus far, with witnesses being grilled privately and details of their answers being selectively delivered to the media.
“The selective leaking in which the House Intelligence Committee has been engaged must end immediately and the full and complete record must be provided for the American people to see,” Cheney wrote. She also insisted that transcripts be complete and unedited. (RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Felt A Lot Different About Impeachment When The President Was From Her Party)
House Republicans have argued that the impeachment process is fundamentally flawed. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise called it a “one-sided, Soviet-style process,” while Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said the secrecy of the impeachment inquiry was unprecedented.
“A yes vote on this resolution today gives a stamp of approval to a process that has been damaged beyond all repair and a blatant and obvious coup to unseat a sitting President of the United States,” Republican Florida Rep. Ross Spano said, according to Fox News.
Schiff, in a CNN interview, promised to begin releasing transcripts “as early as next week.”