House Dems accelerate impeachment inquiry
Trump, lawyers invited to judicial panel’s hearings
WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Tuesday took steps forward in their impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, with the Judiciary Committee scheduling its first hearing and the Budget Committee releasing a report alleging the White House broke the law by withholding money from Ukraine.
The moves show how the impeachment process is quickly advancing beyond the hearings held by the House Intelligence Committee this month to the proceedings that could lead to a formal vote on impeachment.
The House Judiciary Committee hearing on Dec. 4 is a crucial step in this process, as that panel has the power to draft the impeachment articles against Trump.
House Democrats have launched an impeachment inquiry into Trump, alleging that he withheld security funding for Ukraine and a White House meeting until that nation’s new leader, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, agreed to launch investigations into Trump’s political opponents.
A series of current and former government officials have already testified before the House Intelligence Committee that they were alarmed about the White House’s decision to withhold the money, with some saying they were fearful Trump was trying to pressure the Ukrainian government for his own political gain. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
In announcing the Dec. 4 hearing, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., sent a 13-page letter to Trump and asked whether he or his lawyer planned to attend and question witnesses.
“We expect to discuss the constitutional framework through which the House may analyze the evidence gathered in the present inquiry,” Nadler wrote. “We will also discuss whether your alleged actions warrant the House’s exercising its authority to adopt articles of impeachment.”
Nadler asked Trump to notify the committee by Dec. 1 if he planned to participate in any way.
Trump on Tuesday gave mixed signals about whether the White House might cooperate. In a string of Twitter posts, Trump wrote “I would actually like people to testify” but suggested he wasn’t allowing his top current and former aides to testify because it would set a dangerous precedent for future presidents.
“It is a Democrat Scam that is going nowhere but, future Presidents should in no way be compromised,” he wrote. “What has happened to me should never happen to another President!”
As Trump’s White House battles impeachment, he turned to a familiar face last week: Mark Penn, one of President Bill Clinton’s top strategists.
Penn came to the Oval Office for more than an hour Nov. 18, three people familiar with the meeting said, and brought polling data and impeachment advice for the president. Penn reassured Trump that he wouldn’t be removed from office, according to people familiar with the meeting, and encouraged him to travel the country like Clinton did when he was fighting impeachment more than 20 years ago, officials said.
Vice President Mike Pence and counselor Kellyanne Conway were also present for the meeting. Penn was escorted by Andrew Stein, a longtime Trump friend from New York. Penn recommended that Trump “stay focused on the substance” of the allegations surrounding trading access and aid for political favors from Ukraine, according to Stein, “and not respond to everything.”
It’s a tactic that Trump has thus far eschewed: the president has sent dozens of tweets attacking Democrats.
“You’ve got to govern,” Penn told Trump of how Clinton handled the impeachment process, according to another person with knowledge of the meeting.
The House Budget Committee on Tuesday issued a report that it said was based on documents it obtained by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
The report alleged that OMB engaged in a “pattern of abuse” of its authority and the law in holding up the security assistance to Ukraine.
The House Budget Committee cites unusual steps the agency took over the summer as it moved to hold up nearly $400 million in State Department and Pentagon funds for Ukraine that had already been approved by Congress.
It also said OMB’s actions limited agencies’ ability to spend congressionally approved funds by the end of the fiscal year.