BBC- US Republicans have stormed a high-security impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, forcing a witness to delay her testimony by five hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Republicans chanted “let us in” as they forced\ntheir way into the hearing, breaching US House security rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week, Mr Trump urged Republicans to “get tough and\nfight” for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three committees in the Democratic-controlled House of\nRepresentatives are investigating allegations of wrongdoing by the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats accuse him of illegally pressuring Ukraine to dig\nup dirt on a political rival, but Mr Trump and his supporters say he has done\nnothing wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did the chaos unfold?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About two dozen Republicans pushed their way into the secure\nmeeting room – known as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or\nSCIF, on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some brought their mobile phones in with them, leading\nDemocrats and some officials to accuse them of a security breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SCIFs are built to prevent electronic eavesdropping, and\nallow people to review classified information. Electronic devices are not\npermitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats and Republicans began shouting at each other,\nreports say, and the Republican protesters refused to leave the room for a\nnumber of hours, even ordering pizza at lunchtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five takeways from ‘explosive’ impeachment evidence<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump linked Ukraine aid to Biden probe – diplomat<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protest delayed the testimony of Laura Cooper, the\nDeputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, for five\nhours, although she resumed her testimony later in the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why did they barge in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Republicans argued that Democrats were conducting the\nimpeachment inquiry in secret, with Representative Steve Scalise describing it\nas “a Soviet-style process”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Every member of Congress ought to be allowed in that\nroom. The press ought to be allowed in that room,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The inquiry is led by a Democrat – Adam Schiff – and being\nrun by the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, more than 40 Republicans are members of those\ncommittees, and permitted to take part in the hearings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trump impeachment story explained<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who’s who in Trump whistleblower story?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats have argued that it is common for the initial\nstages of a congressional investigation to be conducted behind closed doors,\nand say private hearings are needed at the start, to stop witnesses from\ncoordinating their testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The special counsels in the Nixon and Clinton\nimpeachments conducted their investigations in private and we must initially do\nthe same,” Mr Schiff wrote in a letter to colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is this happening now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some commentators have argued that the Republicans, and Mr\nTrump, have come under increased pressure following Tuesday’s testimony by the\nacting ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Media captionWhat does it take to impeach a president?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Taylor testified that Mr Trump had made the release of\nmilitary aid to Ukraine conditional on a pledge that his political rival, Joe\nBiden, would be investigated, and said relations with Ukraine had been\n“fundamentally undermined” as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham responded in a\nstatement: “President Trump has done nothing wrong – this is a\nco-ordinated smear campaign from far-left lawmakers and radical unelected\nbureaucrats waging war on the Constitution”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democratic congressman David Cicilline described Wednesday’s\nprotest as “a stunt that corresponded very specifically to the president’s\ncomplaint that they weren’t fighting hard enough for him, and in direct\nresponse to devastating testimony… from Ambassador Taylor”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Republican Jim Jordan, who has taken part in the\nhearings, suggested that the protesters were simply fed up with the lack of\ntransparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s finally reached the point where members just said\nthey’re so frustrated at the idea that they can’t be a part of this and see\nwhat’s going on,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BBC- US Republicans have stormed a high-security impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, forcing a witness to delay her testimony by five hours. The Republicans chanted “let us in” as they forced their way into the hearing, breaching US House security rules. This week, Mr Trump urged Republicans to “get tough and fight” for him. Three<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-regional-and-international-news"],"yoast_head":"\n