By: Liv George | Contributing Writer
It seems that the investigation into the impeachment of President Donald Trump has only heated up in the past week. Rick Perry, the Energy Secretary, defied his subpoena to testify in a closed-door meeting with the Judicial Committee. He stated that if the testimony was before the public that he would reconsider.
This is just the latest of subpoena refusals as Republicans call for a lack of Due Process in the proceedings. Mick Mulvaney, who recently got himself into some hot water for essentially confirming the allegations of collusion on live television, also refused to testify in closed-door proceedings. Republicans have been calling the inquiry in and of itself unconstitutional.
However, CNN ran an analysis of the constitutionality of the inquiry and found it within legality. The Constitution does not lay out an exact process for impeachment, rather allowing the sitting congressional committee to use precedent to determine the exact proceedings. The House of Representatives is the body in charge of an impeachment investigation and the Senate is the body who votes whether or not to impeach.
The House of Representatives voted last week to officially begin impeachment proceedings. The vote mostly ran along party lines, winning by a slim majority of Democrats who hold House seats. This vote also passed a resolution, which lays out the steps for the rest of the probe. House Democrats have already lined up the week full of testimony related to the inquiry. The legal counsel for the whistleblower whose complaint launched the inquiry has announced that his client will be answering written questions about the investigation.
With the Impeachment Inquiry official, this week’s Impeachment Watch leaves more questions than it provides answers. Tune in next week for another update.
Jag Media 