House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff doesn’t like Rep. Elise Stefanik questioning witnesses during the ongoing impeachment hearings, so he’s enforcing new rules to keep her quiet.
“I know Ms. Stefanik you had a few quick questions for the ambassador,” Devin Nunes, the committee’s ranking member, said a hearing featuring testimony from Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch Friday.
“I’ll yield to you, Ms. Stefanik,” he said.
The New York congresswoman couldn’t even thank Yovanovitch for her testimony before Schiff cut her off.
“The gentlewoman will suspend,” he said. “The gentlewoman will suspend.”
“What is the interruption for this time?” Stefanik questioned. “It is our time.”
“The gentlewoman will suspend. You are not recognized,” Schiff said. “Mr. Nunez, you or minority counsel, under House resolution 660 you’re not allowed to yield time except to minority counsel.”
Nunez and Stefanik were livid.
“The ranking member yielded time to another member of congress,” Stefanik said.
“Nope, nope,” Schiff said, “that is not accurate.”
“That is accurate,” Stefanik shot back.
“You’re gagging the young lady from New York?” Nunez questioned, incredulous.
Stefanik attempted to press forward despite Schiff’s objections, but the chairman wouldn’t have it.
“Ambassador Yavanovich, I want to thank you for being here today,” she said.
“Gentlewoman will suspend,” Schiff chimed in again, hammering his gavel. “You are not recognized.”
Stefanik lit into Schiff before relenting to his ridiculous rules.
“This is the fifth time you have interrupted duly elected members of Congress,” she said, as Schiff continued to hammer his gavel.
“The gentlewoman is not recognized,” he insisted. “The gentlewoman will suspend.”
“Mr. Chair, we control the time,” Nunez, the former committee chairman, chimed in. “It’s been customary to this committee that whoever controls the time can yield to whoever they wish. If we have members of Congress that have a few questions, it seems appropriate that we should let Ms. Stefanik ask her question.”
“Mr. Nunez, you or minority counsel are recognized,” Schiff said as he stared straight ahead, stone-faced.
Stefanik eventually got her five minutes to question Yovanovitch, and it was quickly clear why Schiff objected to giving the young lawmaker any more time than required by the rules.
Stefanik highlighted Yavanovitch’s previous deposition that detailed how the Obama administration prepped the ambassador for her Senate confirmation hearing, which included questions about former vice president Joe Biden’s son collecting massive checks from the shady Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings.
“You testified that in this particular practice Q and A with the Obama State Department, it wasn’t just generally about Burisma and corruption, it was specifically about Hunter Biden and Burisma. Is that correct?” Stefanik questioned.
“Yes it is,” Yavanovitch said.
“And the exact quote from your testimony, ambassador, is, ‘the way the question was phrased in this model Q and A was: What can you tell us about Hunter Biden’s being named to the board of Burisma?” Stefanik continued.
“So for the millions of Americans watching, President Obama’s own State Department was so concerned about potential conflicts of interest from Hunter Biden’s role at Burisma that they raised it themselves while prepping this wonderful ambassador nominee before her confirmation,” she said.
“And yet our Democratic colleagues and the chairman of this committee cry foul when we dare ask that same question that the Obama State Department was so concerned about.”
The Democrat impeachment spectacle stems from President Trump’s alleged attempts to encourage Ukrainian officials to investigate Burisma Holdings, which paid Hunter Biden millions while his father served as Obama’s point person to the country, as well as other allegations of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.
Last year, Biden bragged at a Council on Foreign Relations panel about successfully threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine until leaders there fired a prosecutor who was investigating corruption at Burisma.
Leave a Comment
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.