Mike Johnson aide says ‘open and transparent’ too ‘wordy’ for impeachment rules

Republicans on a key committee on Tuesday declined to include an "open and transparent" provision in a proposed resolution to begin the impeachment of President Joe Biden.

During a Rules Committee hearing, Ranking Member Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) backed an amendment to use the phrase "open and transparent" because it had been removed from the resolution used to impeach former President Donald Trump in 2019.

Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) disagreed with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) about the amendment.

"Why is it, why is the language permissive, and why is 'open and transparent' been deleted?" Neguse asked.

Massie claimed that Republicans were forced to view documents in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) "for weeks" during the investigation of former President Donald Trump.

"My point is that at the impeachment inquiry phase, when we took that vote, from then on, everything was public, which is why the resolution was structured as such," Neguse replied. "In this instance, Republicans have removed it, and it's clear that they don't intend to have a public process."

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Massie attempted to claim that the removal of "open and transparent" was "an effort to respect the wishes of the other side."

"I suspect at some point the other side of the aisle will claim that the information that's being publicly released has no business being in the public about bank records and things like that," Massie said.

"Oh, I'm sure that that's the reason, Mr. Massie," Neguse quipped.

McGovern, ranking member for the Democrats, reminded the committee that Republicans "deliberately deleted the words open and transparent."

In the end, Republicans voted down the amendment 9-4.

According to USA Today, an aide for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the three words — "open and transparent" — were too "wordy" to be included in the resolution.

Watch the video from the House Rules Committee below or at this link.