WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18), today, voted against H. Res. 660, Democrats’ continuation of their ongoing impeachment obsession. The resolution, which fails to ensure transparency or fairness, received bipartisan opposition. Following the vote Congressman LaHood released this statement:

“For over a month, House Democrats have held an impeachment inquiry behind closed doors that shielded testimony from Members of Congress and the American public. Today’s vote is a clear admission from House Democrats that they were not following the appropriate process in the first place. Still, it fails to provide the same due process rights granted under previous impeachment inquiries.

“Impeachment is the nullification of an election. Only in extraordinary and extreme instances should it be applied, and as a former federal prosecutor, nothing in the facts or evidence presented so far supports the predicate for impeachment.

“My constituents and the American people want us to focus on governing and passing legislation to help our farmers, senior citizens, and working families; not remain fixated on tearing down President Trump. I am committed to passing the USMCA, a federal infrastructure bill, bringing down the high cost of prescription drugs, and fighting the opioid crisis. Let’s get to work and stop this nonsense.”

Background
Under the impeachment inquires of Presidents Nixon and Clinton, they were given the right to have counsel present to review documents and materials presented to the committees to recommend witnesses and to cross-examine witnesses when appropriate. Counsel for both Presidents fully participated in the Judiciary Committee hearings and could make arguments. Today’s resolution provides no guarantees that the President’s Counsel will be allowed in hearings or depositions.

In both the Nixon and Clinton impeachment inquiries, the minority was given co-equal power to subpoena witnesses and materials so that the process would be fair and impartial. Today's resolution differs from the Nixon and Clinton precedents in a keyway. The resolution does not provide for co-equal subpoena power. Instead, it grants the minority the right to subpoena witnesses and materials only with the concurrence of the Chair and the requirement that such subpoenas be a quote, “deemed necessary to the investigation."