Politics

Collins Fires Back At Nadler Deadline, Slams ‘Hurried And Partisan’ Impeachment

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Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Georgia Republican Rep. Doug Collins fired back at House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler Saturday over his deadline for Republican participation in the ongoing impeachment process.

Collins, who serves as ranking member of Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Nadler over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend requesting a more balanced approach to the hearings that were scheduled to begin in that committee on December 4.

Noting that the current schedule was only slated to include testimony from four academic witnesses, Collins argued that Nadler should convene an expanded panel that would “give the American people a wider array of perspectives regarding impeachment. “I further request that you equally allocate those witnesses to the majority and minority’s choosing,” he added. (RELATED: ‘It’s A Yes Or No Answer’: Doug Collins Appears To Trip Mueller On Conspiracy Question)

Historically, the Committee has called upon a robust slate of academics — representing a spectrum of scholastic and political viewpoints — to expound upon the somber subject of removing a duly-elected president. For example, during the impeachment inquiry of President William J. Clinton, the Committee assembled two panels of ten and nine academics, respectively, to help the Committee grapple with impeachment.

Collins concluded by adding that the Committee should strive to retain “its credibility and its historically preeminent role” in the impeachment process, saying that the best way to do so would be to refrain from “rushing to articles of impeachment or hearing only from scholars with demonstrated animosity towards the President.”

“Throughout this hurried and partisan impeachment process, I have consistently requested mere fairness from members of the majority. An equal distribution of experts for the December 4 hearing would be a small concession to demonstrate to the American people this impeachment inquiry is not merely political theater,” he said.