READ IT: House Democrats Release Full Text of Impeachment Inquiry Resolution

Congressional Democrats released the full text of their impeachment inquiry resolution Tuesday afternoon; setting the stage for a high-stakes vote to advance the process this Thursday.

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“Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes,” starts the resolution.

Read the full text below:

Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes.

RESOLUTION

Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes.

1 Resolved, That the Permanent Select Committee on
2 Intelligence and the Committees on Financial Services,
3 Foreign Affairs, the Judiciary, Oversight and Reform, and
4 Ways and Means, are directed to continue their ongoing

1 investigations as part of the existing House of Representa-
2 tives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the
3 House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional
4 power to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the
5 United States of America.
6 SEC. 2. OPEN AND TRANSPARENT INVESTIGATIVE PRO-
7 CEEDINGS BY THE PERMANENT SELECT COM-
8 MITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE.
9 For the purpose of continuing the investigation de-
10 scribed in the first section of this resolution, the Perma-
11 nent Select Committee on Intelligence (referred to in this
12 resolution as the ‘‘Permanent Select Committee’’) is au-
13 thorized to conduct proceedings pursuant to this resolu-
14 tion as follows:
15 (1) The chair of the Permanent Select Com-
16 mittee shall designate an open hearing or hearings
17 pursuant to this section.
18 (2) Notwithstanding clause 2(j)(2) of rule XI of
19 the Rules of the House of Representatives, upon rec-
20 ognition by the chair for such purpose under this
21 paragraph during any hearing designated pursuant
22 to paragraph (1), the chair and ranking minority
23 member of the Permanent Select Committee shall be
24 permitted to question witnesses for equal specified
25 periods of longer than five minutes, as determined

1 by the chair. The time available for each period of
2 questioning under this paragraph shall be equal for
3 the chair and the ranking minority member. The
4 chair may confer recognition for multiple periods of
5 such questioning, but each period of questioning
6 shall not exceed 90 minutes in the aggregate. Only
7 the chair and ranking minority member, or a Perma-
8 nent Select Committee employee if yielded to by the
9 chair or ranking minority member, may question
10 witnesses during such periods of questioning. At the
11 conclusion of questioning pursuant to this para-
12 graph, the committee shall proceed with questioning
13 under the five-minute rule pursuant to clause
14 2(j)(2)(A) of rule XI.
15 (3) To allow for full evaluation of minority wit-
16 ness requests, the ranking minority member may
17 submit to the chair, in writing, any requests for wit-
18 ness testimony relevant to the investigation de-
19 scribed in the first section of this resolution within
20 72 hours after notice is given for the first hearing
21 designated pursuant to paragraph (1). Any such re-
22 quest shall be accompanied by a detailed written jus-
23 tification of the relevance of the testimony of each
24 requested witness to the investigation described in
25 the first section of this resolution.

1 (4)(A) The ranking minority member of the
2 Permanent Select Committee is authorized, with the
3 concurrence of the chair, to require, as deemed nec-
4 essary to the investigation—
5 (i) by subpoena or otherwise—
6 (I) the attendance and testimony
7 of any person (including at a taking
8 of a deposition); and
9 (II) the production of books,
10 records, correspondence, memoranda,
11 papers, and documents; and
12 (ii) by interrogatory, the furnishing of
13 information.
14 (B) In the case that the chair declines to con-
15 cur in a proposed action of the ranking minority
16 member pursuant to subparagraph (A), the ranking
17 minority member shall have the right to refer to the
18 committee for decision the question whether such
19 authority shall be so exercised and the chair shall
20 convene the committee promptly to render that deci-
21 sion, subject to the notice procedures for a com-
22 mittee meeting under clause 2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of
23 rule XI.
24 (C) Subpoenas and interrogatories so author-
25 ized may be signed by the ranking minority member,

1 and may be served by any person designated by the
2 ranking minority member.
3 (5) The chair is authorized to make publicly
4 available in electronic form the transcripts of deposi-
5 tions conducted by the Permanent Select Committee
6 in furtherance of the investigation described in the
7 first section of this resolution, with appropriate
8 redactions for classified and other sensitive informa-
9 tion.
10 (6) The Permanent Select Committee is di-
11 rected to issue a report setting forth its findings and
12 any recommendations and appending any informa-
13 tion and materials the Permanent Select Committee
14 may deem appropriate with respect to the investiga-
15 tion described in the first section of this resolution.
16 The chair shall transmit such report and appendices,
17 along with any supplemental, minority, additional, or
18 dissenting views filed pursuant to clause 2(l) of rule
19 XI, to the Committee on the Judiciary and make
20 such report publicly available in electronic form,
21 with appropriate redactions to protect classified and
22 other sensitive information. The report required by
23 this paragraph shall be prepared in consultation
24 with the chairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
25 and the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

1 SEC. 3. TRANSMISSION OF ADDITIONAL MATERIALS.
2 The chair of the Permanent Select Committee or the
3 chair of any other committee having custody of records
4 or other materials relating to the inquiry referenced in the
5 first section of this resolution is authorized, in consulta-
6 tion with the ranking minority member, to transfer such
7 records or materials to the Committee on the Judiciary.
8 SEC. 4. IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY PROCEDURES IN THE
9 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY.
10 (a) The House authorizes the Committee on the Judi-
11 ciary to conduct proceedings relating to the impeachment
12 inquiry referenced in the first section of this resolution
13 pursuant to the procedures submitted for printing in the
14 Congressional Record by the chair of the Committee on
15 Rules, including such procedures as to allow for the par-
16 ticipation of the President and his counsel.
17 (b) The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to
18 promulgate additional procedures as it deems necessary
19 for the fair and efficient conduct of committee hearings
20 held pursuant to this resolution, provided that the addi-
21 tional procedures are not inconsistent with the procedures
22 referenced in subsection (a), the Rules of the Committee,
23 and the Rules of the House.
24 (c)(1) The ranking minority member of the Com-
25 mittee on the Judiciary is authorized, with the concur-

1 rence of the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary, to
2 require, as deemed necessary to the investigation—
3 (A) by subpoena or otherwise—
4 (i) the attendance and testimony of any
5 person (including at a taking of a deposition);
6 and
7 (ii) the production of books, records, cor-
8 respondence, memoranda, papers, and docu-
9 ments; and
10 (B) by interrogatory, the furnishing of informa-
11 tion.
12 (2) In the case that the chair declines to concur in
13 a proposed action of the ranking minority member pursu-
14 ant to paragraph (1), the ranking minority member shall
15 have the right to refer to the committee for decision the
16 question whether such authority shall be so exercised and
17 the chair shall convene the committee promptly to render
18 that decision, subject to the notice procedures for a com-
19 mittee meeting under clause 2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of rule
20 XI.
21 (3) Subpoenas and interrogatories so authorized may
22 be signed by the ranking minority member, and may be
23 served by any person designated by the ranking minority
24 member.

1 (d) The Committee on the Judiciary shall report to
2 the House of Representatives such resolutions, articles of 3 impeachment, or other recommendations as it deems proper.

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