Word: rodino
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...meeting Chairman Peter Rodino, a Democrat, sought the committee's authority to let him personally subpoena documents and information leading up to a presidential impeachment proceeding. That authority carries less power than it might imply, since the committee cannot subpoena evidence for an actual impeachment hearing; the full House membership must vote the committee such powers at a later date...
...some Republicans grew deeply suspicious about Rodino's motive in asking even for the lesser authority. In an angry speech on the House floor, G.O.P. Moderate Thomas Railsback of Illinois charged that Rodino's request could result in "an unparalleled fishing expedition...
...Rodino got his subpoena power, but in a 21-17 vote that was on strictly partisan lines. The Democratic leadership in the House is gravely worried about provoking such splits, fearing that they would only exacerbate divisiveness throughout the nation. Additionally, any conviction of an impeached President would obviously require a substantial number of Republican as well as Democratic votes. That means, as Rodino repeatedly reminded his colleagues, that "we'll have to get bipartisan support...
Momentous Project. The committee chairman professed no alarm over the glaringly partisan vote by the committee's 21 Democrats and 17 Republicans, saying that by consulting with G.O.P. members he will be able to still partisan suspicions. Rodino promised ranking Republican Edward Hutchinson that he and other G.O.P. members will be kept fully informed of all committee activities and will never be confronted by the Democrats with surprise developments...
Meanwhile, Rodino has begun assembling an "impeachment staff," which by last week included two attorneys, six investigators, an office manager and about a dozen other workers. Now he is looking for a chief counsel who is nonpartisan. "I want a good trial lawyer," says Rodino. "I want a man who is aggressive but not abrasive. And he has to be tuned in on constitutional...