What's next for the Trump impeachment inquiry?
The House judiciary committee begins hearings on Wednesday and is expected to produce articles of impeachment
The House judiciary committee begins hearings on Wednesday and is expected to produce articles of impeachment
The US House intelligence committee on Tuesday voted to send its report concluding that Donald Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rivals to the judiciary committee, triggering the next phase of the impeachment inquiry.
What’s next?
With Tuesday night’s vote, the intelligence committee, which has led the impeachment inquiry so far, has passed the ball to the judiciary committee, which will conduct its own hearings starting Wednesday.
With Tuesday night’s vote, the intelligence committee, which has led the impeachment inquiry so far, has passed the ball to the judiciary committee, which will conduct its own hearings starting Wednesday.
The president and his lawyers have been invited to attend these hearings, present their case, cross-examine witnesses and request additional testimonies.
For now, the White House counsel has refused to participate – at least in the first hearing. Pat Cipollone said in a letter to the judiciary chairman, Jerry Nadler,
that he could not partake “while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the President a fair process through additional hearings”.
Who’s testifying next?
Nadler announced that four law professors – Noah Feldman, Pamela Karlan, Michael Gerhardt and Jonathan Turley – will be testifying at Wednesday’s hearings.
Nadler announced that four law professors – Noah Feldman, Pamela Karlan, Michael Gerhardt and Jonathan Turley – will be testifying at Wednesday’s hearings.
Norman Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is expected to question four scholars about the legal framework for impeachment and examine whether Trump’s actions count as the “high crimes and misdemeanors” spelled out in the constitution as grounds for impeachment
The committee is likely to hold additional hearings, though none have been scheduled yet.Democrats expect that the committee will wrap its work within two weeks and produce articles of impeachment.
Just as the intelligence committee voted on the report today, the judiciary committee will have to vote to approve articles before presenting them to Congress.
