Juliette Kayyem: The Continuation Of Impeachment Hearings Is Necessary

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., right, swears in a witness during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on the constitutional grounds for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Hannah Uebele is a producer for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and previously worked as associate producer for Boston Public Radio. She graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in English and Environmental Studies. She's a proud Delawarean but has found herself saying "wicked" more and more often, so the Bostonian metamorphosis is well underway.Contact: hannah_uebele@wgbh.org

December 04, 2019

Updated August 07, 2023

The House Judiciary Committee began the latest round of impeachment hearings on Wednesday, with three constitutional scholars testifying. Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem joined Boston Public Radio on Wednesday to explain why she thinks the continuation of impeachment hearings is beneficial.

"The hearings, fast or slow, are a benefit in and of themselves," she said. "Donald Trump is a man who does not see foreign influence in an election as bad, so if you're going to try to stop that, there are multiple ways, like having open public hearings, in which these guys are being named and shamed in ways in which they never imagined, which deters them from doing it again in 2020."

Even though polls show that the public hearings haven't swayed the general public's opinion on impeachment, Kayyem said she believes that the hearings are necessary and effective.

"I would view impeachment as one of five or six options available to protect the 2020 election and that's why I have been a late convert to these hearings, but I now am totally on board," she said. "If you want to deter these guys from using their power in doing it again, this is one of the ways that you do it."

Kayyem is an analyst for CNN, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.