U.S. Rep Russ Fulcher, North Idaho’s delegate to Congress, expressed pride for his role as part of a cadre of conservative lawmakers who stormed a deposition Wednesday at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The group demanded transparency during a closed-door proceeding as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

“We wanted Chairman Schiff to explain to us, face to face, why he has chosen to ignore precedent and bar non-committee members from being present,” Fulcher told The Press on Thursday. “And we wanted to raise awareness of how unfair the impeachment inquiry process is being managed.”

“This afternoon, Congressman Fulcher joined 30 Republican Members of Congress to attend a non-classified, impeachment-related hearing held by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,” Alexah Rogge, Fulcher’s communication director, said in a statement. “Upon arriving at the hearing, the committee Chairman, Adam Schiff, ordered the witness to cease their planned testimony, stopped the hearing from beginning, and threatened to file ethics charges against the visiting Republican members.”

Schiff, a California Democrat and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence chairman who oversaw the proceedings, paused the deposition of the since-identified Laura Cooper — a top official on U.S. policy in Ukraine — once the rogue Congressional delegation interrupted. Fulcher said the decision to walk in on the proceedings, to his knowledge, was impromptu.

“It actually started as a press conference,” Fulcher said as he flew home to Idaho for the weekend. “A number of us have had serious concerns how Chairman Schiff has been conducting the process. I think Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., initiated it, but I was invited by Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. About 30 of us went to the press conference.”

The press conference served as a protest against the manner in which the impeachment process is proceeding. House Democrats—specifically Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., — launched the inquiry because of a July phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the call, Trump encouraged Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, whose son Hunter sat on he board of a Ukrainian gas company during Biden’s tenure as vice president. Allegations of corruption and improper influence have since surrounded both Bidens.

The call, however, reportedly raised concerns among National Security staff. A whistleblower brought the matter to the attention of the Department of Justice. Trump, it has since been confirmed, had frozen $391 million in foreign aid to Ukraine days before the phone call and released the funds shortly after the call. Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said during a news conference that the White House used the threat of withholding aid to Ukraine if Zelensky did not investigate Hunter Biden, the son of his ideological rival for what would appear to be political gain.

Fulcher insists his concern is not about a potential removal of the President from office, but rather the process in which impeachment is being carried out.

“I’m not concerned about having hearings,” Fulcher said. “If the President did something worth impeachment, we need to know. If he did not, we need to know. I am concerned about the secrecy of the process and how it is being handled.”

In particular, he cited Schiff’s use of the Sensitive Compartment Information Facility (also known as SCIF) for the proceedings as evidence of a congressional body gone awry.

“The SCIF is typically used when classified information is shared,” Fulcher said, “and Chairman Schiff announced ahead of time there would be no classified information in this meeting.”

Fulcher added the decision to hold the deposition in the first place should never have been Schiff’s to make, casting a shadow of political malfeasance over the proceedings.

“[Schiff] has been communicating publicly for a long time that he would like to see an impeachment,” Fulcher said. “Having him as chair raised red flags immediately. Plus, this ‘inquiry’ shouldn’t even be taking place in his [Intelligence] committee...It should be handled in Judiciary Committee, chaired by Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. But Adam is a former prosecutor and more competent with the gavel than Jerry, and it is suspected that Speaker Pelosi steered this to Adam so she could indirectly have more control.”

Fulcher said Pelosi’s move did not absolve Schiff of responsibility in what Fulcher described as an unfair and imbalanced process.

“Only members on the committee can attend [SCIF depositions],” Fulcher said, “and even they have been directed not to communicate about what takes place inside the SCIF during these hearings, even when the contents are unclassified. Typically other [members not on the Intelligence Committee] can attend, but not actively participate or vote. And again, this meeting was deemed ‘unclassified’ ahead of time. Only the majority leadership can identify and subpoena witnesses. The minority members were not granted the same privilege. This allows the Chairman to expose only information from those he desires.”

Fulcher continued by saying the inability for Republicans in the minority to view transcripts of the hearing is another example of Schiff’s attempts to tip the scales in the Democrats’ favor.

“At least thus far, only Chairman Schiff is allowed to know who the accuser is,” he added. “Not the ‘accused’ or any other members, including those on the committee. This may not be unprecedented, but it underscores the concern about Adam Schiff bringing his personal bias into the governance of the process.”

Neither Schiff’s nor Pelosi’s office could be reached for comment.

Fulcher bristled at the characterization the group of Republican lawmakers overtook security or barged into the proceedings, a protest that paused Cooper’s testimony for roughly five hours.

“...We didn’t run anyone over,” he said. “We simply defied Chairman Schiff’s directions to security, and we walked through. We turned in all phones upon entry.”

Not all phones, actually. Despite a strict rule prohibiting the use of cell phones during SCIF proceedings in the secure room, at least one Congressman — Alex Mooney, R-W.V., — emerged from the Wednesday occupation and bragged to reporters he’d made a call from inside, presenting his Android as evidence. Two other Congressmen were seen either live-streaming or recording video as they walked into the SCIF.

“When we entered the SCIF,” Fulcher recalled, “Schiff took the witness and left. Jim Jordan (R-OH)...followed him out. Chairman Schiff sent him back to us with the message that if we didn’t leave, he would charge us all with ethics violations. We stayed for four hours.”

Fulcher finished the interview by saying he in no way regrets the decision to crash the SCIF uninvited.

“I’m not sure if there was a pre-meditated intention to enter the SCIF prior to the press conference or not,” he reflected. “If so, I was not aware of it … During the press conference, a number of congressional members spoke and fielded questions. Like with most of the national media responses I’ve seen, the media representatives present appeared to be skeptical about the accuracy of our description of the hearing process rules. At the end of the conference, we looked at each other and said, ‘… OK, let’s go in.’”