Page:Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States — Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives.pdf/22

 A.General Principles

As Chairman Rodino observed during this Committee's impeachment proceedings against President Nixon, "it is not a right but a privilege or a courtesy" for the President to participate through counsel in House impeachment proceedings. An impeachment inquiry is not a trial; rather, it entails a collection and evaluation of facts before a trial occurs in the Senate. In that respect, the House acts analogously to a grand jury or prosecutor, investigating and considering the evidence to determine whether charges are warranted. Federal grand juries and prosecutors, of course, conduct their investigations in secret and afford little or no procedural rights to targets of investigations. This type of confidentiality is necessary to (among other things) ensure freedom in deliberations, "prevent subornation of perjury or tampering with the witnesses who may testify," and "encourage free and untrammeled disclosures by persons who have [relevant] information."

Nonetheless, in light of the gravity of the decision to impeach the President and the ramifications that such a decision has for the Nation as a whole, the House has typically provided a level of transparency in impeachment inquiries and has afforded the President certain procedural privileges. Although President Trump has at times invoked the notion of "due process," "an impeachment inquiry is not a criminal trial and should not be confused with one." Rather, the task of the House—as part of the responsible exercise of its "sole Power of Impeachment"—is to adopt procedures that balance the need to protect the integrity of its investigations, the public interest in a full and fair inquiry, and the President's interest in telling his side of the story.

As discussed below, in past impeachment inquiries this has typically meant that the principal evidence relied upon by the Judiciary Committee is disclosed to the President and to the public—though some evidence in past proceedings has remained confidential. The President has also typically been afforded an opportunity to participate in the proceedings at a stage when evidence has been fully gathered and is presented to the Judiciary Committee. In addition, the President has been entitled to present his own evidence and to request that witnesses be called. He has not, however, been entitled to have counsel present during all interviews of witnesses. The procedures employed by the House here were tailored to these considerations and provided ample protections for President Trump.

BProcesses Used in Modern Presidential Impeachments

The processes used in the House's impeachment inquiries into Presidents Nixon and Clinton shared certain common features that informed the House's consideration of how to structure its proceedings with respect to President Trump. In both the Nixon and Clinton impeachments, the House relied substantially on factual evidence collected through prior investigations. These prior investigations did not afford the President any particular procedural rights, such as the opportunity to 16