Representative John Curtis (R-UT), member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent the following letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff after learning of the upcoming impeachment inquiry vote by way of the media.
As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Curtis has attended as many closed-door depositions as possible. In his letter to the Intel Chairman, he describes his concerns with the rushed timeline and requests to see a copy of the resolution to better prepare to vote. Letter available in PDF here.
Full text of the letter is below:
Chairman Adam Schiff
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
HVC – 304
U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, DC 20515
As a Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, I am one of the few Members of Congress who you have allowed to attend the depositions related to the Democrats hearings, known by some as Speaker Pelosi’s impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
While I have made an active effort to attend as many closed-door depositions as possible, I have been unable to attend every deposition. This is in large part due to simultaneous hearings being held by various Committees on which I serve. In fact, this Wednesday, the day before we are expected to vote on an official inquiry, I have been informed that you scheduled two impeachment related depositions at the exact same time. I take my responsibility to listen to all the facts very seriously and I cannot be expected to be in two rooms at once. Further, my staff, and most of my colleagues, are not allowed to attend in my place to brief me on the depositions after the fact.
Despite this seemingly rushed process, I learned through media reports, not official channels, that we will be voting on the House Floor this Thursday to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. In order to make the best decision on my vote on behalf of Utah’s Third Congressional District, I believe I will need to review the transcripts of each testimony. Therefore, I would like to know how many pages of transcript and testimony have and will be accumulated before Thursday’s vote. Even if hearing transcripts were released right now, by my rough estimation, it would require more hours to read the transcripts than there are hours left before the official vote. Is it truly your intention to call for a vote with the impossibility to cast an informed vote?
In addition, I would like to know at what dates and times your staff will be available from now until the vote, to accommodate Members, like myself, who want all information possible when representing their constituents – as Republican Members are not permitted to view the transcripts without Democrat supervision.
Finally, with the impeachment inquiry vote less than 70 hours away, when can I expect to see a copy of the resolution, and the terms of the impeachment inquiry, we are voting on?
Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to receiving your response.
Sincerely,
John Curtis
Member of Congress
