Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), who sits on the House Rules Committee, accused her Republican colleagues of engaging in "political theater" during the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry during her MSNBC interview on Tuesday.
"I think Senator Mitch McConnell has — continues to regurgitate the president’s wishes and the Republicans’ political theater that they have engaged in the House," Torres said.
"It’s been very, very clear that every step of the way through this process they have worked to stop the investigation, to stop this process from moving forward. This is the reason why President Trump has said that he can murder someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and get away with it. And it is unconscionable that they will delegate their duties as U.S. senators to the office of the president," she said.
The Rules Committee convened on Tuesday to set the rules for the upcoming vote in the full House on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) chastised Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Adam Schiff for rushing through the inquiry and for not taking the time to make a convincing case.
"Democrats from the very beginning, from the very first Rules Committee where we set a process, a clear and transparent process of how we were going to proceed, how witnesses were going to be called to testify before committees, and which committees were going to oversee this impeachment process, that’s what we want to see, an open and transparent process," Torres added. "Now, it is to the benefit of the president to continue to obstruct and continue to prevent witnesses from coming forward. Remember, their agenda has been to hide the crimes of the president from the American people."
The full House is set to vote on the two articles of impeachment against Trump, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, on Wednesday. The articles are expected to pass where they will then head to the Senate for a trial.