Impeachment

Rep Rick Crawford: This week the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chairman Adam Schiff interrupted the two-week district work period to begin impeachment. While the HPSCI constantly deals with whistleblower complaints, this one is unprecedented because it’s information is secondhand.

First, I must point out the question of whether this complaint should even come under the purview of the HPSCI. According to statute, a whistleblower complaint should only come to the Congressional intelligence committees if the Intelligence Community Inspector General determines that the complaint is credible, constitutes an “urgent concern,” if it pertains to “the funding, administration, or operation of an intelligence activity within the responsibility and authority of the Director of National Intelligence,” and pertains to classified information. Since the President is not considered part of the Intelligence Community, it stands to reason that investigating the complaint would not be the responsibility of the HPSCI.

However, since HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff insists on sticking his nose where it does not belong, where is the alleged firsthand information the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) says the whistleblower possesses? As a member of the HPSCI, I should not be forced to ascertain critical information about a whistleblower via a game of telephone – you know, that game from our childhood that teaches us how damaging secondhand information can be. Do my Democrat colleagues not see the dangerous precedent set for future administrations?

Schiff, Pelosi, and their Democrat colleagues claim to be preserving American values through this investigation, but I wonder if they have actually investigated our founding documents to learn those values. If they want to protect our nation in perpetuity, perhaps they should consider not blocking the work of six House committees, and bring legislation to the floor that will actually improve Americans’ quality of life.
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RicK Crawford represents the 1st District of Arkansas in the U.S. Congress.

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