Judge Andrew Napolitano explained that Republicans have to blame their own party for current House rules allowing closed-door interviews as part of the impeachment proceedings.
In an interview on Fox and Friends, Napolitano noted that the House rules being used by Chairman Adam Schiff have been in place since 2015 when Republicans were in the majority.
“I read the House rules,” said Napolitano. “And as frustrating as it may be to have these hearings going on behind closed doors, the hearings for which Congressman Schiff is presiding, they are consistent with the rules.”
Napolitano maintained that former House Speaker John Boehner and the 2015 House Republicans are responsible for allowing the current closed-door process to take place in the House.
“They can’t change the rules. They follow the rules. And when were the rules written last? In January of 2015. And who signed them? John Boehner. And who enacted them? A Republican majority,” Napolitano explained.
The judge noted that these impeachment proceedings aren’t official impeachment hearings, so the closed-door policy is consistent with the rules.
“I know this is going to sound weird. These are not the impeachment hearings. The impeachment hearings have to be held in public by the House Judiciary Committee,” he said. “This is the initial interview of witnesses to see what they have to say, to determine whether or not they are even worthy of presenting evidence of impeachment.”
On Wednesday, House Republicans stormed the hearing room in protest of the secretive process.
Boehner, however, disagreed with Napolitano’s assessment of his responsibility for the current House rules. He told Brit Hume that rules changed while he was speaker were unrelated to impeachment.
Correct. https://t.co/QPchfUmmVD
— John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) October 24, 2019
Boehner served as Speaker of the House from 2011 to 2015.
