GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee did not show up at the panel’s remote hearing Wednesday. The party has been sitting out hearings for months, an unofficial boycott it has been growing in recent weeks.
“I had hoped that this would be a bipartisan discussion. Unfortunately, without reason or justification, our Republican colleagues once again have decided to absent themselves from the work of the committee,” Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-California) said. “I repeat my hope that they will reconsider this path and join us for future unclassified public hearings and unclassified, closed roundtables.”
The committee is made of 13 Democrats and 8 Republicans. The hearing sessions are all unclassified and has been switched to virtual meeting amid pandemic outbreak.
“The American people expect that the Congress will continue doing its job, even in a pandemic,” Schiff said. “That means showing up, at a minimum, whether we want to or not. whether conducted remotely or in person.”
Regarding the boycott, Rep. Devin Nunes(R-California), committee’s top Republican, refused to respond.
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) denied that they are conducting an organized boycott.
“I really don’t believe it’s a boycott. It’s not an organized effort at all. I would just say that we have concerns about the format,” he told the outlet. “We’re here. Why aren’t we doing it like we used to?”
