The impeachment inquiry took somewhat of a back seat last week in Washington while Congress honored the late Elijah Cummings. Several impeachment testimonies were delayed in order to accommodate the ceremonies. Only a handful of depositions took place, including that of current Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor. But despite the sudden change in schedule, it was far from a slow week.

On Tuesday, career diplomat Bill Taylor, who has been running the US Embassy in Kyiv since the removal of former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, testified behind closed doors that President Trump held up security aid to Ukraine and a White House meeting until President Zelensky agreed to publically announce the launch of an investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s involvement with a Ukrainian company. The testimony directly contradicts the President’s account of the events.

On Wednesday, Laura Cooper, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, was scheduled to provide testimony to House investigators, but her testimony was delayed five hours after roughly two dozen Republican congressmen attempted, in an act of protest, to enter the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) where Cooper was preparing to testify. The stunt caused outrage among Democrats and prompted criticism from the national security community because some of the Republican congressman who gained entry to the SCIF sent tweets from their phones, violating protocol in the secured area.

The sit-in is a reminder that the impeachment process is inherently a political one. Republicans, concerned with the substance of the testimonies, have been strategically focusing their efforts on criticizing the process, as the protest was intended to demonstrate the GOP’s belief that Democrats are not including Republicans in the impeachment process. This is despite the fact that roughly half of the members on the committees investigating President Trump—Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs— are Republicans. Republicans have also complained that Democrats are not giving President Trump due process with the closed door depositions. Since impeachment is a political process, certain rights associated with judicial proceedings don’t apply, such as the right to have counsel present at each stage of the process.  If impeached, the President will, however, have a trial that will be on full display to the public.

The Democrats are engaged in political maneuvering of their own. Speaker Pelosi’s decision to hold off on a full House vote authorizing the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.is a political one.  Republicans have seized on the decision as a reason to discredit the legitimacy of the process and have touted it as an unacceptable break from precedent. Some Democrats are reportedly admitting that impeachment investigations will most likely extend past Christmas, and many within the party have speculated as to whether this is the correct decision. On one hand, moving the impeachment process quickly could be advantageous while the whistleblower complaint is still fresh in voters’ minds. But on the other hand, gathering all possible evidence could lead to a stronger case for impeachment. 

As for this coming week, Russell Vought, the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, is continuing to not comply with his subpoena request.  Also this week, Charles Kupperman, former deputy to John Bolton, defied a subpoena request to appear Monday.  Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, director of European affairs at the White House National Security Council, is scheduled for a deposition Tuesday.  Kathryn Wheelbarger, acting assistant secretary of Defense for international security affairs, is slated to appear on Wednesday.  Timothy Morrison, a Senior Director at the National Security Council. Is scheduled to testify as well, despite attempts from the White House to block his testimony.  Additionally, Morrison’s former boss, John Bolton, has reportedly been in talks to give testimony. Bolton, who was the former National Security Advisor under the Trump administration, was brought into the conversation last week when Fiona Hill testified about his knowledge about Rudy Giuliani’s activity in Ukraine.

As this update goes to press, the Washington Post is reporting that House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA) plans to introduce a resolution on Thursday to formalize procedures for the next phase of the impeachment inquiry.  Speaker Pelosi sent a letter to her Democratic colleagues explaining that the resolution will affirm that the impeachment inquiry is being done in an open manner, authorize the disclosure of deposition transcripts, outline procedures to transfer evidence to the Judiciary Committee should it wish to prepare articles of impeachment, and set forth due process rights for President Trump.