House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during her weekly media availability on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 27, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

When it comes to the actions of the Democratic House leadership on the latest round of impeachment fever, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) is not messing around.

Collins, who is the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, appeared on Fox and Friends Monday morning to talk about the impeachment process. Collins specifically raised questions about what House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) knew and when he knew it about the whistleblower complaint. He also pointed out how there was a very troubling reason why House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) declared an impeachment inquiry instead of having Congress formally vote on it.

Below is a partial transcript of the interview Collins did with host Brian Kilmeade:

Collins: “If you go back, actually the whistleblower complaint was on August 14th I believe. On August the 28th, go back and look at Adam Schiff who is now heading the ramrod investigation. He actually put a tweet out saying basically what the whistleblower complaint said. This is a month ahead of time. I’m beginning to wonder if there was not more communication here.” Kilmeade: “Nancy Pelosi on 60 Minutes last night was asked ‘Did the President call you?’ She said ‘yes, he called me.’ [This was] before she came out with the impeachment inquiry. [Trump said] ‘the letter was perfect. We’re gonna release the transcript, the call was perfect.’ And she said to him, ‘I knew what was in the letter.’ Then she paused and said ‘it was in the public domain.’ Number one, it was not in the public domain, and the transcript had not been released yet. How could she possibly know?”



Collins: (chuckles) “I don’t think she did. I think the problem here is when you keep telling another story, it’s hard to remember what you’ve told and not told, or what you’re trying to keep.



And this is why I’ve said this week that the Speaker abused her power … she said we’re starting the impeachment inquiry and she gave it to her buddy Adam Schiff who has been dishonest with the American people from the get-go on Russia. And why that is important for everybody in this country to know is a [true] impeachment inquiry would actually afford due process, it would make sure both sides were heard. It would make sure the President and the minority have the rights that are not present in the hearings currently.



This is not America when you can simply ramrod one side of a hearing in without allowing the person who’s being accused or even the minority to have more rights.



If it were a true inquiry, she’d put it on the floor, make her members vote for it so in the end we would actually have a process that happened under Clinton and happened under Nixon.”

When Kilmeade asked Collins about Pelosi’s remarks this week about Americans needing to be “prayerful” about the process, here’s how Collins responded:

“It doesn’t appear to be [sincere] when you see the actions,” Collins said. “Don’t follow the words. Follow the actions. If this was so somber, if this was so serious, then she would do [what] has been done in the past and have a very straightforward process in which every side is represented.”

[…]

Collins said if Pelosi and congressional Democrats truly had the courage of their convictions, they would put the issue to a vote on the House floor and allow the republic to function as it was intended.



“If it was a true inquiry, she would put it on the floor — she’d make her members vote for it so, in the end, we would actually have a process that happened under [Bill] Clinton and happened under [Richard] Nixon, where both sides are represented,” he said. “This is just not fair. The American people will see through this.”

Watch Collins lay the smack down on this sham process below:

Formal impeachment would actually afford due process and ensure both sides are heard. If this were a true inquiry, Speaker Pelosi would allow a vote on the House floor.https://t.co/BgIQGFatO2 — Rep. Doug Collins (@RepDougCollins) October 1, 2019

What Pelosi, Schiff, and Nadler are trying to do should be very concerning to everybody. The House is on a two week break now but key committee members are still in DC issuing subpoenas and moving the impeachment process along without input from Republicans.

GOP House members should use the two weeks they have in their districts to amplify what Collins and other GOP leaders are saying about what’s happening. The American people deserve to know.

——

— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –