Freshman Congressman Bryan Steil (R – Janesville), they guy who replaced former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, weighed in on the impeachment inquiry...spouted off about due process…and got it wrong (Politifact).
Our ruling
Steil said Trump isn’t being afforded the “due process protections” that presidents Clinton and Nixon received in their impeachment proceedings since he can’t participate in the Intelligence Committee phase and can lose his protections before the Judiciary Committee if he doesn’t cooperate.
But the Intelligence Committee claim doesn’t hold up since that body is filling a unique investigative role. The closest analog from past impeachments is the investigative work done before the matter even reached the House — and Clinton and Nixon had no role or protection during those.
The potential for Trump to lose protections if he doesn’t cooperate is indeed unique this time, but it doesn’t inherently limit Trump. It just imposes consequences if the President fails to cooperate with the inquiry. What’s more, the House is only the investigative side of an impeachment inquiry; the trial side — where due process more directly applies — is handled in the Senate.
For a statement that contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, our rating is Mostly False.
Again…the GOP is hoping to get away with crap like this because they know their core constituents have no idea how impeachment works.
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