The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Key lawmakers review report in advance of milestone vote
Ahead of first House Judiciary hearing, the White House says Trump will not participate.
The Democratic majority on the House Intelligence Committee says the report will speak for itself in laying out what Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called the evidence of “wrongdoing and misconduct” by the Republican president over his actions toward Ukraine. It was being made available for committee members to review ahead of a vote today to send it to the Judiciary Committee for Wednesday’s landmark hearing.
Late Sunday, White House counsel Pat Cipollone denounced the “baseless and highly partisan inquiry.” In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., he also declined the invitation for the president’s counsel to appear before his panel Wednesday.
Cipollone said the proceeding “violates all past historical precedent, basic due process rights, and fundamental fairness.”
Cipollone’s letter applied only to the Wednesday hearing, and he demanded more information from Democrats on how they intended to conduct further hearings before Trump would decide whether to participate in them. Trump himself was scheduled to attend a summit with NATO allies outside London on Wednesday.
Trump has previously suggested that he might be willing to offer written testimony under certain conditions, though aides suggested they did not anticipate Democrats would ever agree to them.
Democrats are focused on whether Trump abused his office by withholding military aid as he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to launch investigations into Trump’s political rivals. The report also is expected to include evidence of possible obstruction of Congress by Trump’s instructions that administration officials defy subpoenas for documents or testimony.
House rules provide the president and his attorneys the right to cross-examine witnesses and review evidence before the committee, but little ability to bring forward witnesses of their own. Republicans wanted Schiff, the chairman who led the inquiry report, to testify before the Judiciary Committee, though they have no power to compel him to do so.
What’s ahead
Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing will be a milestone. It is expected to convene legal experts whose testimony, alongside the report from the Intelligence Committee, could lay the groundwork for possible articles of impeachment, which the panel is expected to soon draw up.
Democrats were aiming for a final House vote by Christmas, which would set the stage for a likely Senate trial in January.