Impeachment Hearings. House Judiciary Committee, July 30, 1974. Statement of Representative Edward Hutchinson
Impeachment Hearings. House Judiciary Committee, July 30, 1974. Statement of Representative Edward Hutchinson
Impeachment Hearings. House Judiciary Committee, July 30, 1974. Statement of Representative Edward Hutchinson (R - Michigan).
Impeachment Hearings. House Judiciary Committee, July 30, 1974. Statement of Representative Edward Hutchinson
Peter Rodino (D - New Jersey). I recognize the gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Hutchinson, for 4 minutes. Representative J Edward Hutchinson (R Michigan). Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I suppose it will come, as no surprise to anyone that I would oppose the inclusion of this Article of Impeachment because I voted against subpoenaing the President of the United States on every occasion. I voted against those subpoenas because first I did not think there was any practical way to enforce them, But, equally and perhaps even more importantly, I voted against subpoenaing the President of the United States because we have a government of three co-equal branches, and that means to me that while the President is not above the House of Representatives and the Senate, neither is be below the Congress. He is equal with the Court and the Court is not above him, nor is he above the Court. These are three coordinate branches. It seems to me to make that system work there has to be an accommodation between those branches, but confrontation never settles anything.
Impeachment Hearings. House Judiciary Committee, July 30, 1974. Statement of Representative Edward Hutchinson
It was expectation, my hope, I would even say expectation, in the beginning that the President and the committee could through negotiation and discussion on the part of counsel work out a way in which the President could voluntarily, would voluntarily make available necessary material and I joined with the chairman of the committee in letters to the President making such requests.
Impeachment Hearings. House Judiciary Committee, July 30, 1974. Statement of Representative Edward Hutchinson
I think that the President has actually turned over a lot of material to this committee. I am not going to enumerate it all because members of the committee are all extensively aware of the vast amount of material that has been turned over to the committee that has come from the White House. But, in any event, when it came to subpoenaing the President, I did not think that even the power of impeachment should break down the doctrine of coordinate branches. I think that just as the President cannot order the House of Representatives to do anything neither do I think that the House of Representatives can order the President to do anything. I happen to feel the same way about the Court. I don t, I can t imagine that the Court that the President could order the Court to do something, so it is hard for or me to accept the proposition that the Court can order the President to do anything. At that level, at the very top of our structure, of three coordinate branches, where the President is equal in all respects to the other two branches, I think the only way to get along is through cooperation and working things out in a satisfactory way in order to preserve the prerogatives of all three branches.
Impeachment Hearings. House Judiciary Committee, July 30, 1974. Statement of Representative Edward Hutchinson
Now, earlier, early on in this inquiry, I made a statement that I thought that in the face of an impeachment inquiry that the Executive the doctrine of executive privilege must fall. I have changed my opinion on that because the Supreme Court the other day recognized that the doctrine of executive privilege exists and has applied. We in the House, we have our privileges. I wonder if the people generally realize that any time that a Member of this House of Representatives is summoned into a court, that summons cannot be answered without the Member going to the House and getting permission of the House to comply with the subpoena. Peter Rodino (D - New Jersey). The time of the gentleman has expired. Representative J Edward Hutchinson (R Michigan). My time has expired? I am sorry. I would like to have had more time.