Page:Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States — Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives.pdf/23

 cross-examine witnesses, and many portions were conducted outside public view. At a later stage, when evidence was formally presented to the Judiciary Committee, the President's counsel was permitted to attend, present evidence and call witnesses, and cross-examine witnesses before the Committee.

1.President Nixon

Impeachment proceedings in the House against President Nixon were conducted almost entirely behind closed doors, with the President's counsel afforded certain procedural privileges in later stages of the inquiry. As noted above, the Judiciary Committee began considering impeachment resolutions against President Nixon in October 1973, including by examining evidence in the public domain obtained from other investigations. On February 6, 1974, the House adopted H. Res. 803, which authorized and directed the Committee to investigate "whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its constitutional power to impeach Richard M. Nixon." H. Res. 803 gave the Committee authority to subpoena documents and witnesses, to take depositions, and to issue interrogatories. This authority could be exercised by the Chairman or the Ranking Member, with each having the right to refer disagreements to the full Committee. The Committee subsequently adopted procedures imposing tight restrictions on access to materials gathered during the course of its investigation, restricting access to the Chairman, the Ranking Member, and authorized staff. In February and March 1974, the Committee met three times in closed executive sessions—without President Nixon's counsel in attendance—to hear updates from Committee staff. In addition to reviewing information produced in other investigations, Committee staff conducted private interviews of fact witnesses.

Much of the evidence relied upon by the Committee and gathered by staff was obtained through other investigations, including the investigation by the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. Indeed, the Senate Select Committee's televised hearings are what typically come to mind when one thinks of Congress's investigation of Watergate. The Senate, of course, does not conduct impeachment inquiries; its constitutional function is "to try all Impeachments" if an officer of the United States is impeached by the House. The Senate Select Committee was instead established pursuant to the Senate's general oversight and legislative authorities. In the spring of 1973—before those televised hearings occurred—Select Committee staff interviewed hundreds of witnesses in 17