Cheney calls for Democrats to release impeachment probe transcripts

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to immediately release the transcripts of the hearings and depositions that have taken place behind closed doors as part of the impeachment inquiry.

Cheney argued in a letter sent to Pelosi on Friday that the vote on a resolution laying out the procedures for impeachment does not bring transparency to the process. The measure passed mostly along party lines the previous day.

“Despite the vote in the House on October 31, House Democrats continue to conduct the partisan effort to impeach the President in secret,” Cheney wrote.

{mosads}“Your duty to the Constitution and the American people, as well as fundamental fairness, requires that you immediately release the full transcripts of all depositions taken since you pronounced the beginning of an impeachment inquiry on September 24, 2019,” she added.

The push from Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, comes as GOP lawmakers have worked to amplify their defense of President Trump amid an accelerating investigation into his dealings with Ukraine and efforts to get a foreign government to investigate a political rival.

House Republicans have repeatedly blasted the way House Democrats have conducted the impeachment investigation, with Republicans bemoaning that access to the hearings is limited to members of the three panels leading the probe: the House Intelligence, Oversight and Reform, and Foreign Affairs committees.

GOP lawmakers have also repeatedly accused Democrats of selectively leaking information in an attempt to spin the narrative, with some going as far as attempting to storm a secure area in the Capitol late last month to gain access to the hearings and transcripts.

“The selective leaking in which the House Intelligence Committee has been engaged must end immediately and the full and complete record must be provided for the American people to see,” Cheney, who leads the House GOP conference’s messaging efforts, wrote to Pelosi on Friday.

“In addition, to the extent that you make any redactions in any of the transcripts, all Members of the House must be supplied copies of the full and unredacted transcripts,” she added.

One senior GOP House source told The Hill that “you can expect a bunch of our members to be sending similar letters in the coming days.”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told CNN on Thursday that transcripts of witness testimonies could be released as soon as next week.

Pelosi also told Bloomberg on Friday that she expects the chamber to begin holding public hearings in the inquiry as soon as this month.