[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 9, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E9-E10]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY PROCEDURES IN THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM COLE

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 9, 2024

  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Section 5(a) of House Resolution 
918. 118th Congress, I hereby submit the following impeachment inquiry 
procedures in the Committee on the Judiciary for printing in the 
Congressional Record.

   Impeachment Inquiry Procedures in the Committee on the Judiciary 
                        Pursuant to H. Res. 918


                        A. INITIAL PRESENTATIONS

       1. The Committee on the Judiciary (``Committee'') may 
     receive at a hearing presentation(s) from counsel(s) 
     designated by the chairs and ranking minority members for the 
     majority and minority of the Committees on the Judiciary, 
     Ways and Means, and Oversight and Accountability.

[[Page E10]]

  

       2. The President's counsel shall be furnished a copy of any 
     report(s), record(s) or other materials referenced in section 
     2(5) and (6), section 3(5) and (6), or section 4(5) of H. 
     Res. 918 to the extent those materials are not publicly 
     available, and any non-public material furnished to the 
     Committee pursuant to this section. The President and his 
     counsel shall be invited to attend and observe the initial 
     presentations, and the President's counsel may ask questions, 
     subject to instructions from the chair or presiding member 
     respecting the time, scope and duration of the examination.


                         B. ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE

       1. Any Committee member may bring additional evidence in 
     writing to the Committee's attention.
       2. The President's counsel shall be invited to respond, 
     orally or in writing as shall be determined by the chair, in 
     consultation with the ranking minority member.
       3. Should the President's counsel wish the Committee to 
     receive additional testimony or other evidence, he or she 
     shall be invited to submit written requests and precise 
     summaries of what he or she would propose to show, and in the 
     case of a witness precisely and in detail what it is expected 
     the testimony of the witness would be, if called. On the 
     basis of such requests and summaries and of the record then 
     before it, the Committee shall determine whether the 
     suggested evidence is necessary or desirable to a full and 
     fair record in the inquiry, and, if so, whether the summaries 
     shall be accepted as part of the record or additional 
     testimony or evidence in some other form shall be received, 
     subject to instructions from the chair or presiding member 
     respecting the time, scope and duration of any examination 
     or presentation. In making such determination, 
     notwithstanding Rule II of the Committee on the Judiciary 
     Rules of Procedure, the chair may schedule a Committee 
     meeting subject to the notice procedures for a Committee 
     meeting under clause 2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of House rule XI.


                              C. WITNESSES

       If and when witnesses are to be called, the following 
     additional procedures shall be applicable to hearings held 
     for that purpose:
       1. The President and his counsel shall be invited to attend 
     all hearings, including any held in executIve session.
       2. Objections relating to the examination of witnesses or 
     to the admissibility of testimony and evidence may be raised 
     only by a witness or his counsel, a member of the Committee. 
     Committee counsel or the President's counsel and shall be 
     ruled upon by the chair or presiding member. Such rulings 
     shall be final, unless overruled by a vote of a majority of 
     the members present. In the case of a tie vote, the ruling of 
     the chair shall prevail.
       3. At the discretion of the chair, in consultation with the 
     ranking minority member, notwithstanding clause 20(j)(2) of 
     rule XI, upon recognition by the chair for such purpose under 
     this section during any hearing designated pursuant to H. 
     Res. 918 and these procedures, the chair and ranking minority 
     member shall be permitted to question witnesses for equal 
     specified periods of longer than 5 minutes, as determined by 
     the chair.
       The time available for each period of questioning under 
     this section shall be equal for the chair and the ranking 
     minority member. The chair may confer recognition for 
     multiple periods of such questioning, but each period of 
     questioning shall not exceed 90 minutes in the aggregate. 
     Only the chair and ranking minority member, or Committee 
     counsel yielded to by the chair or ranking minority member, 
     may question witnesses during such periods of questioning. At 
     the conclusion of questioning pursuant to this section, the 
     Committee shall proceed with questioning under the 5-minute 
     rule pursuant to clause 2(j)(2)(A) of rule XI.
       4. The President's counsel may question any witness called 
     before the Committee, subject to instructions from the chair 
     or presiding member respecting the time, scope and duration 
     of the examination.
       D. At the discretion of the chair, in consultation with the 
     ranking minority member, the Committee may receive a 
     concluding presentation from the President's counsel and 
     Committee counsel for the majority and minority.
       E. The chair, in consultation with the ranking minority 
     member, shall make a public announcement of the date, time, 
     place and subject matter of any Committee hearing or meeting 
     to consider matters set forth in these procedures as soon as 
     practicable and in no event less than twenty-four hours 
     before the commencement of the hearing or meeting, except as 
     specified in paragraph B(3) and notwithstanding Rule II and 
     Rule III of the Committee on the Judiciary Rules of 
     Procedure.
       F. Should the President unlawfully refuse to make witnesses 
     available for testimony to, or to produce documents requested 
     by, the investigative committees listed in the first section 
     of H. Res. 918 in furtherance of the investigations described 
     in the first section of H. Res. 918, the chair shall have the 
     discretion to impose appropriate remedies, including by 
     denying specific requests by the President or his counsel 
     under these procedures to call or question witnesses.

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