Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) brought a 62-hour ‘Shutdown Clock’ to President Joe Biden‘s impeachment inquiry to protest against the GOP’s focus on investigating the president and not the impending government shutdown.
What Happened: The Maryland representative lambasted the James Comer-led GOP committee during Thursday’s hearing, comparing Trump’s followers to “a mission for the wicked witch of the west,” accusing them of prioritizing the impeachment over the government’s functioning.
“Like flying on a mission for the wicked witch of the west, Trump’s followers in the house now carry his message out to the world & shut down the government & shut down the prosecutions.”
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Raskin further criticized the GOP impeachment inquiry witnesses, asserting none of them had direct evidence of a presidential crime related to Ukraine and Burisma.
The Biden impeachment hearing featured testimonies from three witnesses: Bruce Dubinsky, founder of Dubinsky Consulting, Eileen O'Connor, ex-assistant attorney general for the US Department of Justice Tax Division, and Jonathan Turley, law professor at George Washington University.
Turley, a conservative legal scholar, had previously spoken against former President Donald Trump‘s impeachment in 2019.
Why It Matters: James Comer, the House Oversight Committee chair, announced earlier this week that the committee would present evidence and hear from experts about potential crimes committed by the Bidens.
This development follows a series of setbacks for the Republicans. Earlier, McCarthy faced two significant defeats when attempts to approve a procedural motion regarding government spending levels failed twice in one week amid a looming shutdown.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, House Republicans approved a bill to allocate funds for the State Department and foreign operations, passing it despite opposition from some GOP members, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), reported The Hill.
Although, the passage of this bill alone will not prevent a government shutdown at the end of the month. Leading Republicans are optimistic that advancing this legislation, along with three other full-year funding bills, might facilitate the House GOP conference’s approval of a funding stopgap measure.
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