| 摘要 | Various commentators, on and off the House Judiciary Committee, have suggested that it will have a better chance of getting grand jury testimony in the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller or testimony from White House counsel Don McGahn, if it styles itself as a preliminary impeachment inquiry. This is probably why Chairman Jerrold Nadler has finally begun to call the impending actions of the committee an impeachment investigation. But without an actual vote by the House to authorize an impeachment inquiry, this strategy seems certain to fail.
Under normal circumstances, the committee would not be able to get either grand jury testimony or an opportunity to question McGahn. The law surrounding grand jury testimony is very restrictive, and the few cases in which it may be made available, always by order of a court, do not include investigations by congressional committees. Similarly, President Trump is certain to object to McGahn testifying on executive privilege grounds, which he has already asserted in other cases.
But the committee seems to now be suggesting that its inquiry is a preliminary investigation that might lead to a resolution of impeachment by the House, and this raises the question whether a committee engaged in such an investigation has a stronger case to receive both grand jury testimony and testimony from White House counsel than it would when simply engaged in a normal oversight investigation.
If so, this would clearly complicate the effort by Trump to deny the committee the testimony of his counsel and the effort by the Justice Department to prevent disclosure of grand jury information. Impeachment inquiries, thankfully, have been few and far between, but their very rarity and importance is an argument for suspending the usual rules about what a House committee might be entitled to. If this is what the committee claims, that they are engaged in an impeachment inquiry, it could go all the way to the Supreme Court, perhaps on an expedited basis.
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If so, this would clearly complicate the effort by Trump to deny the committee the testimony of his counsel and the effort by the Justice Department to prevent disclosure of grand jury information. Impeachment inquiries, thankfully, have been few and far between, but their very rarity and importance is an argument for suspending the usual rules about what a House committee might be entitled to. If this is what the committee claims, that they are engaged in an impeachment inquiry, it could go all the way to the Supreme Court, perhaps on an expedited basis. |
