Members and legal staff of the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committees on Monday will lay out their case for the impeachment of President Donald Trump in a hearing scheduled to begin at 9:00am EST.
According to the New York Times:
After hearing from constitutional scholars last week, the House Judiciary Committee turns from theory to reality as it conducts its first hearing on the evidence in the case against Mr. Trump and examines whether his actions rise to the level of impeachable offenses.
But the committee does not plan to hear directly from fact witnesses, who previously testified before the House Intelligence Committee. Instead, it will hear from lawyers for both parties who will outline and analyze the information already gathered to make the case for why it does or does not justify impeaching the president.
“We need to make it clear within those articles that there is a pattern of conduct here, that Ukraine was the most egregious example of the president abusing his office while he was president of the United States, shaking down a foreign nation to interfere in our elections,” committee member Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), said Sunday. “We need to be focused, we need to be clear, we need to present the best possible case if we are moving in this direction.”
Watch the hearing live:
On Friday, the committee’s staff released a detailed report making the case for Trump’s impeachment.
“The Framers worst nightmare is what we are facing in this very moment,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the committee. “President Trump abused his power, betrayed our national security, and corrupted our elections, all for personal gain. The Constitution details only one remedy for this misconduct: impeachment. The safety and security of our nation, our democracy, and future generations hang in the balance if we do not address this misconduct. In America, no one is above the law, not even the President.”
In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Nadler said members will “bring articles of impeachment presumably before the committee at some point later in the week.”
Also on Sunday, Nalder sent a letter (pdf) to the White House along with a series of document, materials, and other transmitted evidence related to the impeachment probe.
“Pursuant to H. Res. 660,” the letter from Nadler states, “I am furnishing you copies of reports, records, and other materials committees having custody of records or other materials relating to whether sufficient grounds exist to impeach President Trump have transmitted to the House Judiciary Committee pursuant to H. Res. 660.”
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