Press Releases

Washington, DC – Last night, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, sent a letter to Rep. Devin Nunes, the Ranking Member of the Committee, regarding the Minority’s opportunity to request witnesses to testify during the upcoming open hearings.

Last week, the House passed H. Res. 660, which affords the Minority the opportunity to identify and request witnesses to testify during the open hearings 72 hours after the first hearing is noticed. As directed by the House resolution, the Minority’s witness request must be submitted in writing, and must be accompanied by a detailed written justification of the relevance to the inquiry of the testimony of each requested witness, which should be guided by the inquiry’s parameters.

The full letter from Schiff is below:

Dear Ranking Member Nunes:

At approximately 11:20 a.m. today, the Majority provided notice to you and the Members of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (the “Committee”) that the Committee will hold on November 13 at 10:00 a.m. the first in a series of open hearings as part of the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry. H. Res. 660 (the “Resolution”) affords the Minority the opportunity to identify and request witnesses to testify during the open hearings. Pursuant to the Resolution, the Minority should submit such a witness request in writing within 72 hours of the provision of such notice, which is Saturday, November 9, at 11:20 a.m.

The Majority does not intend to request public testimony from every witness who previously testified in depositions or interviews as part of the impeachment inquiry.  If the Minority wishes for any of those witnesses to testify during the open hearings, please include them in your request for witnesses. 

As directed by the Resolution, the Minority’s witness request must be submitted in writing, and must be accompanied by a detailed written justification of the relevance to the inquiry of the testimony of each requested witness. To guide relevance, the report submitted by the Committee on Rules to accompany the Resolution sets forth the inquiry’s parameters:

1. Did the President request that a foreign leader and government initiate investigations to benefit the President’s personal political interests in the United States, including an investigation related to the President’s political rival and potential opponent in the 2020 U.S. presidential election?
   
2. Did the President – directly or through agents – seek to use the power of the Office of the President and other instruments of the federal government in other ways to apply pressure on the head of state and government of Ukraine to advance the President’s personal political interests, including by leveraging an Oval Office meeting desired by the President of Ukraine or by withholding U.S. military assistance to Ukraine?
3. Did the President and his Administration seek to obstruct, suppress or cover up information to conceal from the Congress and the American people evidence about the President’s actions and conduct? 

The Committee looks forward to receiving by November 9, within the Resolution’s stipulated deadline, the Minority’s written request for witnesses, and is prepared to consult on proposed witnesses to evaluate their relevance to the inquiry’s scope.

Sincerely,

Adam B. Schiff
Chairman

Click here to read the text of the resolution.
Click here to read the accompanying report.

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