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October 24, 2019 11:14 AM UTC

Buck Protests "Closed" Hearing He Should Have Just Attended

  • 23 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Colorado GOP chairman Rep. Ken Buck (R).

The dust has barely settled on yesterday’s bizarre stunt pulled by some two dozen House Republicans, in which members barged into a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) in the basement of the Capitol and refused to leave–delaying the testimony of a Defense Department official in the continuing impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump for five hours and creating a media spectacle in hope of squelching explosive testimony the day before from the acting ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor.

There was some confusion yesterday about who among the Colorado Republican congressional delegation took part in the protest. Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs was reportedly part of a “relief supply” operation, bringing pizza and Chick-fil-A sandwiches to keep the protesting congressmen fat and happy during their five-hour occupation. And after this Tweet from Rep. Ken Buck of Greeley, who moonlights as the chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, many assumed that Buck was inside the SCIF as well:

But as it turns out:

A representative for Rep. Ken Buck, who’s on the Foreign Affairs Committee and was listed as a lawmaker who planned to attend, told BuzzFeed News that Buck did not attend but tweeted criticism of the closed testimony.

This confirmation that Rep. Buck was not part of the group who “stormed” the SCIF does settle some of the questions about consequences he might have faced for barging into a secure area of the Capitol, which many Republican members apparently did carrying their unsecured personal electronics with them in a big no-no violation of the rules. As a former assistant U.S. Attorney and county prosecutor, Buck better than most of his colleagues should know and be respectful of security protocols.

But there’s a more rudimentary problem with Buck’s blasting of the “behind closed doors” impeachment hearings going on in the secure basement of the Capitol. Because Rep. Buck currently sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee–one of the three committees jointly holding the impeachment hearings–Buck is allowed to attend the hearings along with all of the other Republicans who serve on those committees. Every Republican member of the House Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs committees is just as able to participate as the Democrats who serve on those committees. The letter from the committee Republicans Buck links to complains about lack of access to hearing transcripts after the fact, which Democrats say they will provide in due course–but that’s a red herring anyway because Buck is allowed to participate in the hearings.

The fact that Buck not just could have been there but should have been as part of his job, and instead chose to throw the digital equivalent of spitwads via Twitter, only proves that yesterday’s protest was a sham.

With that, once again Rep. Buck becomes an unintentional Democratic asset.

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23 thoughts on “Buck Protests “Closed” Hearing He Should Have Just Attended”

  1. WHY ARE THE HEARINGS BEING HELD IN THE SCIF AT ALL? WHAT ARE DEMOCRATS HIDING? Hold the hearings in public with the cameras rolling. Stop leaking selectively to the press. Have an honest process!!

    If you can't, Americans need to know why.

    2. WHY ARE THE HEARINGS BEING HELD IN THE SCIF AT ALL? WHAT ARE DEMOCRATS HIDING?

      lol

      Nothing says "vacuous dumbass" like an all-caps hysterical shit fit. Thanks for the lulz, Moderapist.

    4. You'll get your public hearings after the investigation collects the preliminary evidence required to determine the appropriate impeachment charges. Have no fear; this will be aired in public before any formal impeachment vote.

      Of course, your real fear is that it's already obvious how had this is, and you would rather have Republicans obstructing and obfuscating while giving impeachment targets and witnesses better information to co-ordinate their stories – which the inquiry says is happening.

    6. How many of the Benghazi hearings had private depositions before their public sessions?  All eight, or just half of them?

      As Judge Nap made clear this morning, the rules have NOT changed since 2015, when they were set up to the satisfaction of Speaker Boehner and the Republican majority.

      And if we are going to have openness and transparency, when will we get the testimony of ALL of those who have been requested or subpoena'ed?

    7. I’m in Canada today and Trumple Pig’s ALL CAPS made me laugh hard enough that now I have to explain this maroon to our northern neighbors.  

          1. Good question, Dio.

            In their recently parliamentary election, there was actually a Trump-like candidate named Maxime "Mad Max" Bernier who led an offshoot from the Conservative Party which he named the People's Party. It garnered about 1.5% of the popular vote and no seats in parliament.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Party_of_Canada#Immigration

            One of its more interesting platform planks was on immigration where they advocated building a fence along Canada's southern border to keep the unwanted ones out.

            No word on whether they promised that the US would pay for the fence.

        2. LOL! Just trying to keep my options open! (and talk a little hemp in the meantime).

          There’s no splainin’ Fluffy up here. I tried. They have no appreciation for our willfully ignorant fucksticks.

      1. They don't just have concerns… they are crapping in their pants that the whole Trump Con is going to come crashing down around their ears and messing with their livelihoods.  We're talking donors, influence and future lobbyist gigs at risk here folks!

  2. Hey Soiled Blue one.  Why was Ken Buck not in the hearing that he could have attended?

    Americans need to know why their so-called "President"  can't attack the investigation on the evidence it's producing.

     

    Btw are you 1 of the 4?

  3. You have to wonder if Buck even cares about doing his job.  Talk about a lazy government employee who thinks he is entitled to his job for life without any effort on his part.  Ken you give all the folks who hate lazy government employees the perfect stereotype.

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