mr. chief justice and senators, that s a good question. the answer is that these were validly issued subpoenas under the house rules. the white house argument to the contrary is wrong, and it would have profound negative implications for how congress and our democracy function. on january 9th, 2019, the house adopted its rules like we do every congress and these rules gave the committee the power to issue subpoenas. they re not ambiguous rules, and here is a relevant portion of rule 11 on slide 55. the house s standing rules give the committees impeachment power for the purposes of carrying out any of its functions and duties as it considers necessary. this investigation began on september 9th before the speaker s announcement on september 24th that it would become part of the impeachment inquiry umbrella.