WASHINGTON — The impeachment inquiry is now full speed ahead as the House Intelligence Committee investigates the whistleblower complaint, which ultimately will set the timeline of the process.
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If lawmakers decide to go down the impeachment route, it will still be the House Judiciary Committee which will vote on the articles of impeachment before the full House takes up the matter.
“We are going to move as expeditiously as we can, but we are going to be thorough,” said Rep. Val Demings (D-Florida 10th District), a member of both the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees.
As House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff takes the lead on the complaint and begins issuing subpoenas, the Judiciary Committee is still expected to begin the impeachment process.
“The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who will then take the information and based on the content of the information, will write articles of impeachment if that’s the conclusion that is made,” Demings explained.
However, there are still members of the panel that are not on board, like freshman Rep. Greg Steube (R-Florida 17th District). As a member in the minority, he admits he gets frustrated, because he doesn’t have much control over the process.
“I feel like it’s a colossal waste of time,” Steube explained in an interview with Spectrum News.
“You get five minutes, every time we have a hearing. I take those five minutes and try to defend the president and our constitution, because I don’t believe we are following it right now. That’s all you can do in the minority and hopefully the Senate will see through a lot of the things that are going on in the House,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Senate Intelligence Committee is just getting started on a review into the whistleblower complaint. Republicans on that committee have yet to take a stance.
"I’m not talking about this issue until all the facts have come forward,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) said to reporters on Thursday.