WASHINGTON – East Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and a band of likeminded Republican rebels on Wednesday barged into a secure facility at the Capitol to protest House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.
The spectacle derailed testimony that a Pentagon official planned to give behind closed doors about the Trump administration’s dealings with Ukraine, specifically over security aid.
Gohmert and other Trump allies have criticized Rep. Adam Schiff and other top Democrats for the secretive nature of the probe’s early stages, even though both Republicans and Democrats who sit on the committees handling the investigation have had access to all hearings to date.
By Wednesday afternoon, Gohmert was among a handful of conservatives still holed up in what’s known as a SCIF, or sensitive compartmented information facility.
“We plan on staying here until we negotiate a resolution,” the Tyler Republican wrote in a Twitter message posted by his staff. “Schiff and the witness are still sequestered away/not in the SCIF, so it is sort of a standoff right now.”
Congressman Gohmert is still in the SCIF; the following is a message he relayed to staff via secure line: "I am currently in the SCIF with my colleagues, w/out our phones. We plan on staying here until we negotiate a resolution. (1/3)
— Louie Gohmert (@replouiegohmert) October 23, 2019
The GOP gambit succeeded – at least temporarily – in diverting attention away from the parade of government witnesses who have appeared in recent days to shed more light on the allegations that Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate a political rival.
“All this is an attack right on the investigation, and so when you don’t have law or the facts, you attack and disrupt the process,” Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., told The New York Times.
A few dozen conservative Republicans gathered Wednesday morning in the bowels of the Capitol to demand “transparency for the American people,” said Rep. Ron Wright, an Arlington freshman who is part of the influential House Freedom Caucus.
Wright was among the Texans involved, along with at least Gohmert and Sugar Land Rep. Pete Olson, who is not running for reelection next year.
"This has been a disgraceful process,” Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the House GOP whip, explained at a news conference later Wednesday. “This is a Soviet-style process. This should not be allowed in the United States of America.”
The contingent, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, eventually pushed toward the secure space, which lawmakers use to read or hear classified and other sensitive information. There were shouts of “Let us in!” as some members of the group made their way into the hearing room.
Some Republicans were seen bringing in their cellphones into the SCIF – a major security no-no.
Midland Rep. Mike Conaway, a senior Republican on the House intel panel, was seen collecting the phones of lawmakers as they poured in, perhaps realizing his colleagues were committing a serious faux pas, one Democrat in the room told The Washington Post.
Gohmert, meanwhile, reportedly engaged other Democrats in a shouting match over what he described as an injustice.
The committees’ work screeched to a halt as Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper was whisked away. Gohmert and others hunkered down in the secure facility instead, leaving the rest of the Capitol to light up with reactions, ranging from outrage to bemusement.
Asked about the sit-in, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, paused for some time before saying, “This place just gets more like a circus every day,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
It appeared the standoff could linger for hours, particularly after the GOP protesters ordered in lunch. But duty eventually called in the form of an afternoon vote series in the House. By 3 p.m. Eastern, all that remained of the sit-in were a few half-eaten boxes of pizza.
