Authorizing and directing the Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise the power vested by article 1, section 2, clause 5 of the Constitution in respect to acts of misconduct by Donald John Trump, President of the United States.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 396 Authorizing and directing the Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise the power vested by article 1, section 2, clause 5 of the Constitu- tion in respect to acts of misconduct by Donald John Trump, President of the United States. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2019 Ms. JACKSON LEE (for herself, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. LEWIS, and Mr. COHEN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules RESOLUTION Authorizing and directing the Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise the power vested by article 1, section 2, clause 5 of the Constitution in respect to acts of misconduct by Donald John Trump, President of the United States. Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary, act- 1 ing as a whole or by any subcommittee thereof appointed 2 by the chairman for the purposes hereof and in accordance 3 with the rules of the committee, is authorized and directed 4 to investigate fully and completely whether sufficient 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 May 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR396.IH HR396 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 396 IH grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise 1 its constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump, 2 President of the United States of America, including but 3 not limited to— 4 (1) violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause 5 of the United States Constitution; 6 (2) violation of the Domestic Emoluments 7 Clause of the United States Constitution; 8 (3) obstruction of justice; 9 (4) abuse of power; 10 (5) misfeasance in public office; 11 (6) malfeasance in public office; 12 (7) failure to protect the confidentiality of na- 13 tional secrets from enemies foreign and domestic; 14 (8) failure to take care that the laws be faith- 15 fully executed; 16 (9) failure to preserve records required by the 17 Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation 18 Act (PRMPA) of 1974 (Public Law 93–526, 88 19 Stat. 1695); 20 (10) countenancing the payment of ransom with 21 Federal funds to secure the release of an American 22 hostage held in violation of international law by an 23 outlaw nation; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 May 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR396.IH HR396 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 396 IH (11) authorizing the issuance of security clear- 1 ances and disclosure of national secrets to persons 2 known by the U.S. Intelligence Community to pose 3 security risks; 4 (12) refusal to acknowledge and failure to act 5 to deter aggression and defend against attacks on 6 the electoral systems and processes of the United 7 States by foreign nations, actors, and entities; 8 (13) engaging in a criminal scheme to violate 9 Federal campaign finance laws to defraud the people 10 of the United States; 11 (14) mismanagement of the executive branch by 12 failing to nominate persons for positions requiring 13 confirmation by the United States Senate; 14 (15) destabilizing the peace and security of the 15 United States by condoning and normalizing White 16 nationalism and giving legitimacy to those who ad- 17 here to the doctrine of White supremacy; 18 (16) endeavoring to abuse the law enforcement 19 powers of the United States to investigate and pun- 20 ish persons considered by Donald John Trump to be 21 his political enemies; 22 (17) undermining the essential institution of a 23 free and independent press by attacking media orga- 24 nizations and individuals as ‘‘enemies of the people’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 May 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR396.IH HR396 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 396 IH (18) denigrating immigrants and undermining 1 the international standing of the United States by 2 separating minor-age immigrant children from their 3 parents with no means or intention of family reunifi- 4 cation; and for 5 (19) irreparable breaches of the public trust. 6 SEC. 2. The committee shall report to the House of 7 Representatives such resolutions, articles of impeachment, 8 or other recommendations as it deems proper. 9 SEC. 3. (a) For the purpose of making such investiga- 10 tion, the committee, as it deems necessary to such inves- 11 tigation, is authorized to require— 12 (1) by subpoena or otherwise— 13 (A) the attendance and testimony of any 14 person (including at a taking of a deposition by 15 counsel for the committee); and 16 (B) the production of such things; and 17 (2) by interrogatory, the furnishing of such in- 18 formation; 19 (b) Such authority of the committee may be exer- 20 cised— 21 (1) by the chairman and the ranking minority 22 member acting jointly, or, if the ranking member de- 23 clines to act, by the chairman acting alone, except 24 that in the event either so declines, either shall have 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR396.IH HR396 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 396 IH shall have the right to refer to the committee for de- 1 cision the question whether such authority shall be 2 so exercised and the committee shall be convened 3 promptly to render that decision; or 4 (2) by the committee acting as a whole or by 5 subcommittee. 6 Subpoenas and interrogatories so authorized may be 7 issued over the signature of the chairman, and may be 8 served by any person designated by the chairman, or any 9 member designated by the chairman. The chairman, or 10 any member designated by the chairman (or, with respect 11 to any deposition, answer to interrogatory, or affidavit, 12 any person authorized by law to administer oaths) may 13 administer oaths to any witness. For the purposes of this 14 section, ‘‘things’’ includes, without limitation, books, 15 records, correspondence, logs, journals, memorandums, 16 papers, documents, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, 17 photographs, reproductions, recordings, tapes, transcripts, 18 printouts, data compilations from which information can 19 be obtained (translated if necessary, through detection de- 20 vices into reasonably usable form), tangible objects, and 21 other things of any kind. 22 SEC. 4. There shall be paid out of the applicable ac- 23 counts of the House such sums as may be necessary to 24 assist the Committee on the Judiciary in conducting the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 May 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR396.IH HR396 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HRES 396 IH inquiry under this resolution, any of which may be used 1 for the procurement of staff or consultant services. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 May 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR396.IH HR396 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS