Democrats lay out case for charges
A committee vote is coming, possibly as soon as this week, on two or more articles of impeachment on charges of abuse of power, bribery and obstruction against the Republican president.
Trump quickly began tweeting anew against the “Witch Hunt!” and deriding “Do Nothing Democrats.”
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., was blunt as he opened the hearing, saying, “President Trump put himself before country.”
The top Republican on the panel, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, said Democrats are racing to jam impeachment through on a “clock and a calendar” ahead of the 2020 election.
“They can’t get over the fact that Donald Trump is the president of the United States and they don’t have a candidate that can beat him,” Collins said.
The hearing sets off a pivotal week as Democrats march toward a full House vote expected by Christmas. In drafting the articles of imWASHINGTON peachment, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing a legal and political challenge of balancing the views of her majority while hitting the Constitution’s bar of “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Nadler said the case against Trump is clear after “multiple officials testified that the president’s demand for an investigation into his rivals was a part of his personal, political agenda, and not related to the foreign policy objectives of the United States.
“The integrity of our next stake.”
The Republicans tried numerous times to halt or slow the proceedings, formally objecting several times the committee’s Democratic counsel was impugning Trump as he spelled out potential charges. Nadler responded negative comments about Trump might well be expected in listing reasons to impeach him. The Republicans demanded roll call votes several times, including on “taking down” the negative comments, all defeated on party-line votes.
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Republicans also were demanding to hear from Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, whose 300-page report provides the foundation for articles of impeachment. Schiff declined to appear, sending the panel’s chief counsel to argue the case.
Trump and his allies acknowledge he likely will be impeached in the Democratic-controlled House, but they also expect acquittal next year in the Senate, where Republicans have the majority. Trump’s team is turning attention elsewhere, including Monday’s release of a long-awaited Justice Department report into the 2016 Russia investigation.
The White House is refusing to participate in the process, and Collins asked to postpone the hearing, criticizing Democrats for moving too swiftly. One legal scholar testified last week it would be the quickest impeachment in modern history.
Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman, Matthew Daly, Eric Tucker, and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.