'Physically Obstructing Justice,' Dozens of Republicans Storm Closed-Door Impeachment Hearing

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A group of over two dozen House Republicans on Wednesday barged into a secure room in the U.S. Capitol building ahead of a closed-door deposition and delayed the testimony of Pentagon official Laura Cooper, a witness in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

“The GOP members who protested the Cooper deposition have essentially shut down the impeachment inquiry for a time,” reported the Washington Post‘s Rachel Bade.

Many of the Republicans involved in the stunt are not members of the House Intelligence, Judiciary, and Foreign Affairs Committees and were therefore not authorized to enter the hearing room.

“Let’s see if we can get in,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the leader of the group, said at a press conference Wednesday.

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Ben Siegel of ABC News reported that some of the GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), were “screaming” as they entered the hearing “and all brought phones into the secure SCIF room,” a major violation of House rules. Several Republican lawmakers, including Gaetz, appeared to tweet from inside the secure room and later claimed the tweets were sent by staff.

According to CNN,

Schiff, in response to the interruption, briefly left the hearing room to consult the sergeant-at-arms about removing the unauthorized Republican lawmakers.

“That’s a lot of sitting members of Congress who are physically obstructing justice,” tweeted Sludge reporter Alex Kotch.

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