Letter to Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Carolyn B. Maloney, Acting Chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee - Members of Congress Demand Release of Committee Rules for Unauthorized Impeachment Inquiry

Letter

Dear Chairman Schiff, Chairman Engel, and Acting Chairwoman Maloney:

We write to demand the release of the rules that are governing the depositions and transcribed interviews being conducted by the joint action of your three committees. The secrecy in which these depositions and interviews are being conducted, and the lack of clarity on the rules that govern attendance and access to records, are deeply concerning in the context of such a serious inquiry.

You have consistently denied non-committee Members their right to attend these depositions and interviews without specifying any authority to do so. House regulations clearly permit all House members to attend depositions.[1] You have consistently denied the right of non-committee members to view the transcripts of depositions and interviews without specifying any authority to do so. These transcripts are committee records. Committee records that are the property of the whole House and under House rules, no Member can be denied access to committee records.[2]

Please immediately release any rules that have been adopted in addition to existing standing committee rules by no later than October 22, 2019. We urge you to give this matter your immediate attention.

Sincerely,