Impeachment live updates: House Judiciary panel debates Trump’s Ukraine conduct as it moves toward approval of articles of impeachment
At the heart of the Democrats’ case is the allegation that Trump tried to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine to combat Russian military aggression, to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as a probe of an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
●Senate Republicans look to hold a short impeachment trial despite Trump’s desire for an aggressive defense.
●House Democrats brace for some defections among moderates on impeachment of Trump.
●In new legal memo, White House budget office defends withholding aid to Ukraine.
How impeachment works | House resolution impeaching Trump | House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment inquiry report | Key figures on the House Judiciary Committee
Huckabee defends his suggestion that Trump should get a third term in office
Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and conservative commentator, defended his suggestion that Trump should be eligible for a third presidential term as “hilarious” in a Fox News interview Thursday evening.
Host Sean Hannity pressed Huckabee about the comment, which he tweeted out that afternoon to a chorus of consternation from some on the left and chuckles from others on the right.
Huckabee wrote that Trump “will be eligible for a 3rd term due to the illegal attempts by Comey, Dems, and media, et al attempting to oust him as @POTUS so that’s why I was named to head up the 2024 re-election.”
Hannity asked Huckabee to clarify that the tweet was in jest, but, laughing, Huckabee said, “No, it’s not a joke.”
“I think it’s hilarious,” Huckabee added. “I had a lot of fun watching people on the left’s heads explode … I’ve had a fun day.”
He singled out former national security adviser Susan Rice, who quoted Huckabee’s tweet and added, “WTF??!!”
“They’ve got to learn to have a sense of humor,” Hannity said, after accusing liberals of being “triggered” by the post.
Republican member all but pleads with weary colleagues to finish impeachment hearing
As the contentious impeachment markup approached its 12th hour — running well past predictions by officials on both sides of the aisle — one GOP lawmaker implored his colleagues to, essentially, wrap it up.
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) complained that “I have not heard a new point or an original thought from either side in the last three hours,” calling the hearing an “institutional embarrassment.”
“The same talking points have been repeated over and over again, ad nauseum, by both sides,” he said. “Repeating a fact over and over doesn’t make it true, and denying a fact over and over doesn’t make it false. Everybody knows this. Everybody watching knows this.”
McClintock continued: “This hearing has been enough of an institutional embarrassment without putting it on an endless loop, so if I could just offer a modest suggestion: If no one has anything new to add that they resist the temptation to inflict what we’ve already heard over and over again.”
McClintock was preaching to the choir, at least on the Democratic side. His GOP colleagues were actually the ones dragging out the hearing, which officials on both sides originally expected to wrap up by 5 p.m. In fact, Republicans on the panel – as well as their spouses – had plans to attend the lavish White House Christmas party for lawmakers. Ranking Judiciary panel Republican Doug Collins’s wife even showed up to the markup in evening wear.
However, the GOP — sensitive to suggestions that it was hanging up the battle for Trump to head to a holiday party — decided to keep fighting and offering amendments well beyond what was anticipated. Collins, according to sources familiar with what happened, had to tell his wife they weren’t going to make the party. At one point, he sat with her in the back of the hearing room, held her hand and gave her a kiss on the head.
Just after 9 p.m., Democrats broke for a recess, as members grew weary and hungry. Democratic staffers, who hadn’t planned to order dinner for their members, scrambled to order Hill Country Barbecue and coffee for sustenance. That didn’t lift their moods much. Many lawmakers had planned to fly back to their districts this evening after the markup. Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) said he would have to miss a parent-teacher conference in the morning for his daughter.
McConnell says he’ll take cues from White House on whether to call witnesses during Senate impeachment trial
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reiterated his intention to work closely with the White House’s legal team on the impeachment trial, pledging “total coordination.”
“There will be no difference between the president’s position and our position,” McConnell told Sean Hannity in a Fox News interview Thursday evening.
When asked whether the Senate trial would involve witnesses, McConnell said, “I’m going to take my cues from the president’s lawyers.”
His remarks echo earlier signals, when Trump’s legislative affairs director Eric Ueland promised the White House would be “cooperative and very collaborative” with Senate Republicans.
McConnell predicted bipartisan opposition to impeachment in the House and, he said, maybe the Senate, too.
“The case is so darn weak coming over from the House, we all know how it’s going to end,” McConnell said. “There’s no chance the president is going to be removed from office.”
Another Republican-backed amendment defeated
The Judiciary Committee defeated an amendment proposed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that proposed to remove the last eight lines of each article of impeachment.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) had previously called the proposal “silly.”
“It takes [out] the paragraph that says, ‘Wherefore the president should be impeached.’ It renders the two articles simply a catalog of various bad acts by the president, but takes the force and effect of the articles entirely away,” Nadler said.
The amendment was defeated by a vote of 23 to 17.
Name-calling, insults and scandals dominate all-day impeachment hearing
Hunter Biden’s drug problem. Allegations about President Trump’s sex life. A congressman’s past DUI arrest.
No controversy even marginally related to the House impeachment proceeding was overlooked Thursday as Republican and Democratic lawmakers waged one last battle over articles of impeachment before the matter moves to the floor next week.
Frustration had built for both parties over a month of tightly controlled hearings, where committee procedures restrained the partisan conflict just enough to keep the impeachment process moving. But Thursday’s markup session in the House Judiciary Committee unfolded without those controls, in an open format that allowed members more than eight hours of spontaneous and at times nasty confrontation.
Lawmakers from both parties took advantage.
“Today I’m reminded of Judas,” said Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.). “Because Judas for 30 pieces of silver betrayed Jesus. For 30 positive tweets for easy reelection, the other side is willing to betray the American people.”
One of the most dramatic moments of the markup came after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) proposed an amendment to add a mention of Hunter Biden and his former position on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, to the articles of impeachment. Gaetz proceeded to discuss Biden’s struggle with drug addiction, reading directly from a New Yorker article that discussed it and an episode involving a crack pipe discovered in Biden’s Hertz rental car.
This stunned at least one Democrat, who responded by indirectly noting Gaetz’s previously reported DUI arrest in 2008. He was not convicted.
In another instance, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who also served during Bill Clinton’s impeachment, argued that Trump had committed a far greater offense — and brought up one of Trump’s alleged sexual partners to make her point.
Read more here.
Rep. Jordan proposes taking impeachment out of articles of impeachment
As the hearing dragged past the 7 p.m. hour, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) offered an amendment that would take the concept of impeachment out of the articles of impeachment.
“Look, you have a rigged and rushed process when you don’t have the facts on your side,” he said. “... You have a rigged and rushed process when you can’t accept the will of the American people.”
The amendment — Thursday’s fifth — proposed to eliminate the last eight lines of each article:
“Wherefore President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) called the proposal “silly.”
“It takes [out] the paragraph that says, ‘Wherefore the president should be impeached.’ It renders the two articles simply a catalog of various bad acts by the president, but takes the force and effect of the articles entirely away,” he said.
He urged opponents of the articles to simply vote against them.
Fourth GOP amendment is defeated
The Judiciary Committee defeated an amendment proposed by Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) to strike article II, the obstruction-of-Congress charge, on the grounds that it was “completely baseless and bogus.”
The amendment was defeated 23 to 17.
Nadler and GOP member have quick exchange over process
In a relatively polite exchange, Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) why the Democrats didn’t take Trump to court to compel witnesses to testify rather than charge him with obstruction of justice.
Nadler had just finished a long statement on why Trump had obstructed justice, saying the White House directed witnesses not to participate in the impeachment inquiry because they didn’t want to validate it. “It is not up to the president to decide whether an impeachment inquiry by the Congress is legitimate or not. That’s our function,” Nadler said.
Buck then interjected and asked if he could ask “one quick question.”
“Why is court not an appropriate remedy in this case?” he asked.
Nadler responded that there’s nothing for a court to review because the president did not exert executive privilege, but simple instructed officials to defy their subpoenas.
“Isn’t the next step, then, to hold a witness in contempt for either not producing documents or not appearing?” Buck retorted.
Nadler repeated that if privilege were asserted, then yes, but in this case “the only remedy for a president who says the House does not have the power to determine to have an impeachment inquiry is to say that’s an obstruction of Congress.”
Republicans seek to strike obstruction of Congress charge
As the impeachment markup barreled past the 8-hour mark, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) offered the fourth GOP amendment: to strike article II, the entire obstruction of Congress charge.
“Who is really obstructing Congress?” Reschenthaler asked, seeking to turn the blame onto Democrats.
Republicans over the past few weeks have argued that it’s actually Democrats who have abused their power, by refusing to give the GOP a minority-day hearing or allow the president to call his own witnesses. Democrats, however, gave the president the opportunity to cross-examine staff counsel presentations; the White House declined to do so.
Some of the Judiciary panel’s top Republicans were among the most dogged investigators of the Obama administration. Now, they approve of Trump’s refusal to comply with committee requests.
The Republicans argue that Democrats should go to court to settle the fight.
“The Democrats have no case when it comes to obstruction,” Reschenthaler said. “This obstruction charge is completely baseless and bogus.”
Another GOP amendment is defeated
The Judiciary Committee has defeated a GOP-backed amendment that would have added language to the articles of impeachment stating that the U.S. aid to Ukraine was released after the new Ukrainian government signed anti-corruption measures into law.
The amendment, introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), was defeated 23 to 17.
A tally of which House members support impeaching Trump
The House is expected to vote on the two articles of impeachment next week before breaking for the holidays. The Washington Post has compiled a tally of how members have indicated they will vote.
Take a look at it here.
Democrat compares GOP contortions to her yoga-teaching sister
Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.) chided Republicans, comparing their defenses of Trump to the yoga poses her sister can do.
“It is incredible to me to see some of my colleagues bend over backwards to cover up for this president,” she said. “My sister is a yoga teacher. She doesn’t contort the way some of my Republican colleagues distort the facts, all to protect this president.”
Democrat compares Republicans to Judas
In yet another sign of the acrimonious split between Republicans and Democrats on impeachment, Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.), a senior House Judiciary Committee member, compared Republicans’ support of Trump to Judas’s betrayal of Jesus in the Bible.
“Today I’m reminded of Judas — because Judas for 30 pieces of silver betrayed Jesus; for 30 positive tweets for easy reelection, the other side is willing to betray the American people … the future of our great country,” Richmond said.
Trump campaign says impeachment will help him win reelection
As Trump faced a critical vote on his impeachment Thursday, his top political advisers said the process had already begun to reap benefits for his reelection campaign.
“This lit up our base, lit up the people that are supporters of the president. They’re frustrated, they’re upset, and that motivates voters,” campaign manager Brad Parscale told reporters during a briefing Thursday. “They have ignited a flame underneath them.”
Parscale — who prefaced his remarks by saying he did not believe Trump deserved to be impeached — said that “every metric” he tracks, from fundraising to voter sentiment to volunteer recruitment, shows a political benefit for the president.
“That has put money in our bank, it has added volunteers to our field program,” he said. “It’s filled up the rallies easier.”
Read more here.
White House official says it will work ‘closely’ with Senate GOP on trial process
The White House will be “cooperative and very collaborative” as the Senate moves to a trial, Trump’s legislative affairs director Eric Ueland said.
“We’re having good close communication and conversation with Senate Republicans in the event the House goes ahead and actually produces articles of impeachment,” Ueland said, after leaving a meeting at the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) “We’re going to continue to work closely with Senate Republicans as well as other members of Congress on the questions, and we’ll continue to be very cooperative and very collaborative with our friends up here on the Hill as we work through this process.”
Ueland, who visited Capitol Hill with White House counsel Pat Cipollone, wouldn’t respond to specific questions about process or whether the White House would want Senate GOP to call witnesses.
“I think the president’s been pretty clear on priorities that he’d laid out when it comes to this, but while we focus on the questions of how best to deal with the process in the Senate, we’re also focused on substantive results for the president’s agenda on the American people,” Ueland said.
Third Republican amendment seeks to clarify that Ukraine received aid money
Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.) offered the Republicans’ third amendment that would add language to the articles of impeachment stating that the U.S. aid to Ukraine was released after the new Ukrainian government signed anti-corruption measures into law.
Republicans have long argued that Trump withheld the aid to Ukraine over concerns generally about corruption in the country. Democrats have noted that at no time on a July call with Zelensky does Trump mention corruption, only the desire for an investigation in the Bidens.
“My amendment, it basically covers and sets forth clearly what the holding or the pause of the Ukrainian aid was about. And they got their money and they got it on time,” Biggs said.
Speaking in opposition to the amendment, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) said had Zelensky felt pressured by Trump, he would have never publicly said so.
“Was he supposed to publicly complain and criticize President Trump when the whole world knows how the president doesn’t respond to anything except for praise?” Bass asked. “What hostage would come forward and complain publicly against their captors, especially if they knew that the aid could be withheld or they could be compromised at any point in time?”
Committee rejects amendment adding Hunter Biden’s name to articles of impeachment
On a 23-to-17 vote along party lines, the Judiciary Committee rejected an amendment proposed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) that would have added the name of Hunter Biden to the articles of impeachment.
The vote came more than three hours after the amendment was introduced.
Jeffries says Trump attacks everybody ‘who won’t bend the knee’
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) took a direct shot at Trump, whom he said “attacks everybody who won’t bend the knee.”
“He’s attacked John McCain, a war hero. He’s attacked Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican nominee. He’s attacked Bob Mueller, a Marine — a distinguished professional in law enforcement,” Jeffries said. “He has attacked your former speaker Paul Ryan. He attacks gold star families.”
“He even attacked today a 16-year-old teenage activist, Greta Thunberg,” Jeffries added. “Are you here to defend that as well?”
Jeffries said his Republican colleagues appeared more focused on attacking the Bidens rather than discussing the allegations against Trump. He implored them to stay on task.
“Is it okay for the president to solicit interference in the 2020 election or not? Who should decide the outcome of our elections? Is it the Russians? The Chinese? The Ukrainians? Or the American people?” Jeffries asked. “It should be the American people — and that’s why we’re here at this moment … so let’s have a serious discussion about it, and stop attacking Americans who refuse to bend the knee to this president.”
Dean says Congress does not need permission from president or courts
Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), a former lawyer from Philadelphia, gave an impassioned speech about the power of the Congress to conduct its own oversight under the Constitution.
“We do not need permission from the president; we do not need permission from the courts,” she said, holding up a pocket-size Constitution, setting the room abuzz with camera clicks. “In fact, we have an obligation to do our job under this simple, smart document.”
Republicans have sought to cast Trump’s stonewalling of congressional oversight as a routine interbranch dispute like that which has plagued past administrations and Congresses. Trump, however, has vowed to ignore “all the subpoenas” and refused to allow critical witnesses on the Ukraine matter to appear in the impeachment inquiry.
“This is not an ordinary dispute, folks,” Dean said, referring to Trump’s refusal to comply with even a single congressional investigation. “This is a very rare, thankfully, very rare dispute.”
Dean warned the room: “Do not be confused by the lawyers on the other side who would teach the wrong civics lesson and distract you with the notion [that] we need to go to court, we need permission of a president, we need permission of a court.”
“We do not,” she said.
GOP congressman: ‘We were sent here to obstruct this Congress’
Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) argued that impeaching Trump for obstruction of Congress doesn’t make sense because Republican lawmakers were “sent here to obstruct this Congress.”
Buck said Republicans were sent “to make sure that this power of the purse is actually exercised around this place.” While praising Trump’s policies, he also chastised the deal Democrats made with the White House to provide all federal employees paid family leave for three months.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) pushed back on Buck, calling it “terrible ignorance” to suggest that obstruction is a good thing.
“Whether you think Congress is behaving well or badly, whether it’s popular or unpopular, if you want a dictator, then you subvert the ability of Congress to hold the executive in check,” Nadler said. “What is central here is do we want a dictator? No matter how popular he may be, no matter how good or bad the results of his policies may be. No president is supposed to be a dictator in the United States.”
“When I hear colleagues of mine arguing that the Congress is unpopular and therefore obstruction of Congress is a good thing, this shows terrible ignorance or lack of care for our institutions, for our democracy, for our form of government, for our liberties,” Nadler added.
Appeals court considers whether Trump is illegally profiting from foreign business
For the second time this week, appeals court judges considered whether Trump is illegally profiting from foreign government payments to his private business.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit appeared divided about whether to dismiss the lawsuit from the top lawyers for Maryland and the District of Columbia, alleging the president’s hotel in downtown Washington violates the Constitution’s anti-corruption ban.
Trump’s lawyer told a full complement of 15 judges that it is “clear and indisputable” that the president cannot be sued unless such a lawsuit is expressly authorized by Congress. But Judge James A. Wynn Jr. asked what else could be done to “remedy a president who openly and without any reservation violates the emoluments clause?”
“He is above the law?” Wynn asked.
On the other side, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III repeatedly made clear he was prepared to dismiss the unprecedented case, saying there is no “direct evidence that the president has directly harmed anyone.”
“We’re up here making it up. We’re winging it,” Wilkinson said. “There’s no history that authorizes it. There’s no precedent that authorizes it.”
Read more here.
White House officials meeting with McConnell on impeachment
White House counsel Pat Cipollone and legislative affairs director Eric Ueland were spotted walking into the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), as the House readies to impeach the president next week.
A McConnell aide confirmed that he is meeting with the pair of White House officials on impeachment.
The meeting comes as the Senate considers what kind of trial to have in January; many Republicans are advocating for a short one to quickly acquit Trump.
Cippollone has rejected House entreaties to participate in the impeachment probe and present the White House’s side. The White House said it would not legitimize a “sham” process and would wait until it got to the Senate to engage.
McConnell blames dearth of legislating on impeachment
As the House Judiciary Committee debated articles of impeachment, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was on his chamber’s floor blaming the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry for the race against the clock on spending bills and other legislative priorities.
“As I said, the Democrats’ fixation with impeachment has pushed crucial governing priorities into the 11th hour,” McConnell said.
McConnell also lamented that the deal on trade between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the White House happened too late to be debated and passed by the Senate by year’s end.
“Now, at the 11th hour, Speaker Pelosi has finally realized it would be too cynical and too nakedly partisan to allow her conference’s impeachment obsession to kill the USMCA entirely,” McConnell said, referring to the trade deal known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement. “So after a year of obstruction, she finally gave in to Republican pressure and struck a notional deal with the White House.”
House Democrats point out that they’ve passed hundreds of bills that McConnell will not bring up. Congress’s struggle to pass major legislation and complete spending bills on time is a problem that started long before the impeachment probe.
Trump shares more than 80 tweets and retweets on impeachment
Trump has now shared more than 80 tweets and retweets on impeachment since the start of the day, with many of them showing clips of Republican allies supporting him.
Among the tweets passed along by Trump to his more than 67 million followers was this assessment by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.): “Today’s impeachment markup has confirmed our worst fears: Democrats have invented two Articles of Impeachment against @realDonaldTrump, but they are still holding many others over his head. They will never be satisfied until this President is out of office.”
As the House debates impeachment, Senate confirms new ambassador to Russia
The Senate confirmed John Sullivan on Thursday to be the next U.S. ambassador to Russia, as the House Judiciary Committee debated the articles of impeachment against Trump for his actions regarding Ukraine — some of which involved Sullivan.
Sullivan, who previously served as deputy secretary of state, was the official who ultimately told former U.S. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch that Trump “had lost confidence” in her, and that she “would need to depart [her] post” — despite the fact that she had “done nothing wrong,” according to Yovanovitch’s testimony.
Sullivan testified about the conversation during his confirmation hearing in October. He also told senators that Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, was one of several individuals who were part of a “campaign” against Yovanovitch. He also said that it would not “be in accord with our values” for Trump to request that Ukraine investigate a political rival.
The Senate voted 70 to 22 to confirm Sullivan, a bipartisan showing at a time when the parties are usually bitterly split over matters involving Russia and Ukraine. Sullivan succeeds Jon Huntsman as ambassador. Huntsman is now running to be governor of Utah.
While impeachment debate rages, spending talks advance
Top officials left a midday meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declaring that a $1.3 trillion deal to set 2020 federal spending plan was within reach.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said a list of hundreds of conflicts had been narrowed to a “handful” of issues. “We’ll see if we can resolve this quickly,” he said.
House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.) said she hoped to reach a deal by the end of the day Thursday, putting Congress on a trajectory to clear a Dec. 20 shutdown deadline.
“The discussion is very constructive,” she said. “I expect to get a deal done by today.”
According to two aides familiar with the discussions, Republicans are expected to counter the latest Democratic offer later Thursday. A meeting of the top four congressional leaders to hash out any final disputes is expected to follow.
A handshake agreement Thursday would set the stage for a remarkable sequence of floor action next week in the House, with a presidential impeachment sandwiched between bipartisan deals on federal spending and North American trade.
Gaetz offers amendment on Hunter Biden, highlights his substance abuse problem
In an extraordinary moment, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) offered an amendment to the articles of impeachment mentioning Hunter Biden — and proceeded to highlight the former vice president’s son and his past substance abuse problem.
This stunned at least one Democrat, who cited lawmakers who might have their own personal problems, an implicit mention of Gaetz and his 2008 DUI arrest.
“The pot calling the kettle black is not something that we should do,” said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), without specifically naming Gaetz.
While he was arrested for alleged drunken driving in 2008, Gaetz was never convicted. Local media in Florida, where the incident occurred, have raised questions about whether he received special treatment because his father was high-ranking local politician.
The moment, which momentarily left the room silent as Johnson awaited for Gaetz to respond, came after Gaetz introduced his amendment to include in the articles of impeachment a mention of Burisma and Hunter Biden’s role on the Ukrainian gas company’s board.
Hunter Biden, who has struggled with substance abuse, was paid $50,000 a month though he had no apparent experience related to the position.
Republicans argue he was hired merely because his father was vice president at the time.
Gaetz highlighted Hunter’s struggles with substance abuse, taking the room through an incident depicted in a New Yorker article, where Hunter was in a rental car crash. According to the story, the Hertz rental officer who oversaw the incident told the journalist he found a crack pipe in the car and white powder reside.
“I don’t want to make light of anybody’s substance abuse issues … but it’s a little hard to believe that Burisma hired Hunter Biden to resolve their international disputes when he could not resolve his own dispute with Hertz rental car over leaving cocaine and a crack pipe in the car,” Gaetz said.
When Johnson spoke up about “the pot calling the kettle black,” he continued: “I don’t know what members, if any, have had any problems with substance abuse, been busted on DUI. I don’t know. But if I did, I wouldn’t raise it against anyone on this committee. I don’t think it’s proper.”
Gaetz looked down and didn’t respond.
In 2014, the Tampa Bay Times quoted him as saying, “I made bad decisions that resulted in an arrest, and that is sort of something that we all live with.”
Escobar responds to Trump with a Russian salutation
Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Tex.), one of two lawmakers targeted by Trump in an earlier tweet, responded with one of her own in which she used a Russian salutation.
Приве́Ñ‚, @realdonaldTrump.
— Rep. Veronica Escobar (@RepEscobar) December 12, 2019
The fact of the matter is that if a local official abused his power like you did, he’d be in jail.
If that official failed to respond to subpoenas and obstructed an investigation, he’d be in jail.
No one is above the law, not even you. https://t.co/AjGDRwKfPB
“The fact of the matter is that if a local official abused his power like you did, he’d be in jail,” Escobar said in her tweet directed at Trump. “If that official failed to respond to subpoenas and obstructed an investigation, he’d be in jail. No one is above the law, not even you.”
In his earlier tweet, Trump accused Escobar of misrepresenting part of his July phone call with Zelensky.
GOP amendment to strike abuse-of-power article fails
A Republican amendment to strike the impeachment article on abuse of power was defeated 23 to 17 after nearly three hours of debate.
The markup had slowed to a crawl as lawmakers got entangled in miscellaneous arguments about impeachment, Trump’s actions toward Ukraine and the opposing party.
The amendment, from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), proposed to strike the entire first impeachment article charging Trump with abuse of power. But lawmakers stopped referring to it as the discussion degenerated into a rehash of partisan talking points.
There were several nasty moments.
The top Republican on the panel, Rep. Douglas A. Collins (Ga.), took the unusual step of objecting to Democrats’ unanimous consent requests to insert media articles into the record.
When Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) asked to submit several major newspaper editorials that called for Trump’s impeachment, Collins blocked it, saying, “I want to read it.”
“I’d love for him to read them,” Cohen said, drawing a rebuke from Collins.
Nearly every lawmaker on the 41-member panel took the opportunity to speak, using motions to “strike the last word” to gain recognition from the chair.
McCarthy signals support for short Senate trial
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) signaled Thursday that he would support a short impeachment trial in the Senate.
“If it goes over to the Senate, I don’t think it should have to last too long,” McCarthy said at his weekly news conference.
His assessment is in line with a growing sentiment among Senate Republicans, but such a plan could clash with Trump’s desire to stage a public defense of his actions toward Ukraine that would include testimony the White House believes would damage its political rivals.
McCarthy said the Democratic case lacked compelling facts.
“If you had a fair process, we’d never be here,” he said.
Moderate Democrats voice support for impeachment
Moderate Democrats are voicing support for the articles of impeachment, as the House Judiciary Committee prepares to send them to the House floor.
Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) said in a statement earlier this week that he would support both articles of impeachment, noting that Trump’s actions regarding Ukraine “were illegal and he obstructed justice by refusing to cooperate with Congressional investigations.”
The Judiciary Committee actually stopped short of filing an article on obstruction of justice; the two articles up for debate are abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Thursday that the two articles “go together,” and that “the story’s clear” on what Trump did — meaning the House needs “to carry out our own obligations” and impeach him.
Lamb stressed that he found Trump’s efforts to keep witnesses from Congress — and the GOP’s support for that — egregious. “I don’t think you can hide the ball and, at the same time, try to point to gaps in the evidence,” he said to the newspaper. “That’s just not credible.”
‘People will vote the way they vote’ on impeachment, Pelosi says
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) betrayed no concern Thursday about the prospect of additional Democratic defections when impeachment comes to the House floor next week.
“This is a vote that people are going to have to come to their own conclusions on,” she said at a weekly news conference. “People will vote the way they vote.”
Two Democrats opposed an Oct. 31 resolution setting rules for the impeachment inquiry: Reps. Collin C. Peterson (Minn.) and Jeff Van Drew (N.J.). Democratic aides believe a handful more may follow on the actual impeachment vote but nowhere near enough to imperil passage of the two articles.
Pelosi also responded sharply to Trump’s suggestion at a Tuesday campaign rally that Democrats were pursuing “impeachment light.”
“The president is wrong,” she said. “What can I say?”
Pelosi spent much of her news conference touting a major prescription drug bill set to pass the House today as well as an agriculture worker bill passed Wednesday and the North American trade agreement set for a vote next week.
“I think it’s pretty exciting,” Pelosi said of the legislative action.
Republicans slam Sondland as unreliable; Democrat notes he was Trump’s pick
Republican lawmakers dismissed U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland as an unreliable witness in the impeachment inquiry and criticized Intelligence Committee Democrats for citing his testimony in their report.
Reps. Ken Buck (Colo.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio) noted that Sondland said repeatedly during his closed-door deposition that he did not recall key facts, only to revise his testimony later with some of those facts filled in.
“Ambassador Sondland is your star witness? Really? You’re basing an impeachment on Ambassador Sondland’s testimony?” Buck said.
He predicted that Sondland’s account of the alleged quid pro quo would be picked apart during a Senate impeachment trial.
Jordan called Sondland “the guy who presumed there was a quid pro quo” and “the guy who had to file an addendum to his deposition testimony.”
Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) sought to turn the tables by noting that Sondland was Trump’s pick for E.U. ambassador.
“They don’t like him now because he clarified his testimony to say that yes, there was a definitely a quid pro quo at the heart of this whole thing,” Raskin said. “Of course, they [Republicans] turn on the president’s own ambassador.”
Trump resurrects claim regarding aid from other countries
Trump weighed in on the Judiciary Committee deliberations for a second time, resurrecting a claim that military aid to Ukraine was withheld in part to try to get other nations to contribute a greater share.
“I also have constantly asked, ‘Why aren’t Germany, France and other European countries helping Ukraine more?’” Trump tweeted. “They are the biggest beneficiaries. Why is it always the good ol’ United States? The Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, never mention this at their phony hearing!”
U.S. aid to Ukraine resumed without a change in levels of aid from those countries.
European nations have far outpaced the United States in Ukraine, spending $18.3 billion since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and launched an ongoing separatist war in the eastern part of the country that has left at least 13,000 people dead.
The bulk of the money — $16.8 billion — came from the European Union and regional international development banks, including the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to which the United States is also a major donor.
The rest, $1.5 billion, came bilaterally from the 28 E.U. countries. Aid has paid for everything from tents and food for refugees to helping train firefighters and paramedics, to more esoteric projects such as identifying and protecting old-growth forests in western Ukraine’s Carpathian mountains.
Trump weighs in on hearing on Twitter
Trump weighed in on the debate during real time on Twitter, accusing two Democratic lawmakers of “purposely misquoting” him in a July call in which he pressed Zelensky for investigations that could benefit him politically.
According to a rough transcript of the call released by the White House, after the Ukrainian president brought up the possibility of purchasing additional military equipment, Trump responded by asking Zelensky to “do us a favor, though.”
“I said I want you to do us (our Country!) a favor, not me a favor,” Trump said in his tweet. “They know that but decided to LIE in order to make a fraudulent point! Very sad.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a staunch ally of the president, was making a similar point, before the committee.
Trump’s tweet — which suggested he was watching on television — targeted Reps. Veronica Escobar (D-Tex.) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.).
Committee elders argue about Clinton precedent
The elders of the House Judiciary Committee are waging a partisan side battle over whether the effort to impeach Trump holds up in comparison to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), who sat on the Judiciary Committee when it considered Clinton’s impeachment in 1998, argued that “it’s obvious to the American public that this is a railroad job,” insinuating Democrats were rushing the matter through Congress.
He also complained that the majority of Republicans on the Judiciary Committee had not been allowed into the House Intelligence Committee’s closed-door process because Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) “kicked them out.” During Clinton’s impeachment, Sensenbrenner said, “both sides were allowed to present whatever witnesses they wanted to.”
Twelve of the 17 witnesses the House Intelligence Committee interviewed during its closed-door investigation appeared for public hearings as well.
During the Clinton impeachment, the House Judiciary Committee did not hear from fact witnesses either. Sensenbrenner appeared to partly acknowledge this — and then excused it by noting that independent counsel “Kenneth Starr did all the grunt work of putting together the facts.”
That sparked a sharp retort from Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), who was also in Congress during Clinton’s impeachment.
“Let me be very clear of the distinctive difference that we had then at that time,” she said. “The Congress was not privy to any of that investigation.”
“The Congress received a report,” she added, just like the House Judiciary Committee received one from the Intelligence Committee.
Lofgren brings Stormy Daniels into the debate
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif), a senior Judiciary Committee member who served through the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, sought to cast Republicans as hypocrites for impeaching Clinton for lying about a sexual affair while refusing to hold Trump accountable for pressuring Ukraine to investigate a political rival.
Lofgren chimed in after Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), a senior Judiciary Committee member who also was present for Clinton’s impeachment, argued that “the biggest difference in the Clinton impeachment and this one is that President Clinton committed a crime, perjury.”
“This president isn’t even accused of committing a crime!” he said.
Lofgren pushed back on that argument, suggesting it was absurd for Republicans to impeach Clinton over denying a relationship but not Trump for his pressure on Ukraine.
“I would just like to note that the argument that somehow lying about a sexual affair is an abuse of presidential power, but the misuse of presidential power to get a benefit somehow doesn’t matter,” she said. “If it’s lying about sex, we could put Stormy Daniels’s case ahead of us. We don’t believe that’s a high crime and misdemeanor. No. And it is not before us. And it should not be for us, because it’s not an abuse of presidential power.”
Daniels, an adult film actress, has alleged an affair with Trump more than a decade ago. Trump has denied the relationship.
Procedural terms you need to know to follow this markup
For many viewers, it may be the first time watching a congressional committee markup. Here’s a quick primer on some of the jargon lawmakers are using.
●Point of order: Used by a member to allege a violation of a rule and ask that the chairman enforce it.
●Strike the last word: A member uses this to get more time to speak on an amendment, by asking to delete the last word in the amendment and then offering an amendment to replace that word.
●Substitute amendment: An amendment, usually offered by the chairman, that replaces the entire text of a measure. Sometimes it’s small grammatical tweaks, but it can also be more substantial.
●Parliamentary inquiry: A member interrupts to ask a question about procedure. The chairman can decide whether to engage.
Jordan seeks to strike article on abuse of power
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) offered an amendment to strike the first article that charges Trump with abuse of power because, he argued, there was “no quid pro quo.”
Jordan, one of Trump’s most trusted allies on the Hill, then ticked off many now-familiar GOP arguments against impeachment, including that there was never an announcement by Zelensky of an investigation into Joe Biden and the withheld military aid was eventually released.
“Article 1 in this resolution ignores the truth. It ignores the facts … It ignores what happened and what has been laid out for the American people over the last three weeks,” Jordan said.
Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.) responded, repeating the entire case against Trump point by point. Cicilline said there’s ample direct evidence of Trump’s desire to abuse his power.
Trump did not accept Democratic offer to appear and request witnesses, Democrat notes
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) noted that Trump did not accept a Democratic offer to “advocate for his views” before the Judiciary Committee and to “submit requested witnesses” as part of the impeachment inquiry.
“He chose not to attend, and he chose not to suggest any witnesses,” Deutch said in response to Rep. Douglas A. Collins (Ga.), the panel’s top Republican, who accused Democrats of running an unfair process.
“So before telling us the sky is falling and there is great disrespect for the rules, it’s important to actually look at [what happened],” Deutch said before Collins cut him off.
“Let’s be careful in the way we suggest that rules are being violated when everything that’s being done here is consistent with more than 50 years of interpretation of the rules,” he said later. “Facts really do matter.”
First amendment to articles fixes Trump’s name
Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) offered the first amendment of the markup, amending the impeachment resolution to change references to “Donald J. Trump” to “Donald John Trump.”
It’s unclear what prompted the change.
Rep. Douglas A. Collins (Ga.), the top Republican on the committee, said the change shows “the absurdity of where we’re at.”
The chairman’s amendment is called a “substitute amendment.” Every amendment going forward will be an amendment to that amendment. The substitute will be voted on at the very end of the markup with any other changes made.
Republicans challenge markup, call for minority hearing day
House Judiciary Committee Republicans launched their first procedural attack at the impeachment markup right away Thursday, protesting Chairman Jerrold Nadler’s (D-N.Y.) refusal to respond to a request for a minority hearing day on impeachment.
Rep. Douglas A. Collins (R-Ga.) asked the majority Dec. 4 to schedule a hearing for them to call their own witnesses on behalf of Trump, citing House rules allowing for the minority to have such events on major issues. Nadler, Collins said Thursday, had yet to respond to the letter, even as Democrats moved to mark up impeachment articles and eyed floor action as soon as next week.
“The House rule does not require me to schedule a hearing on a particular day,” Nadler said at the committee meeting. “Nor does it require me to schedule the hearing as a condition precedent to taking any specific legislative action. Otherwise, the minority would have the ability to delay or block majority legislative action, which is clearly not the purpose of the rule.”
Collins blasted Democrats for trampling minority rights: “Minority rights are dead in this committee.”
The nine-page resolution is read in full
Madeline Strasser, the Judiciary Committee’s chief clerk, read in full the nine-page resolution that includes the two articles of impeachment.
It concludes that Trump “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law.”
“President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States,” the resolution says.
Rep. Lieu is absent from meeting
A Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee is missing the markup of articles of impeachment after undergoing stent surgery on Tuesday.
Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.) was absent Wednesday night and Thursday morning following his admission to George Washington University Hospital for chest pain on Monday evening. His chief of staff, Marc Cevasco, announced in a statement that Lieu underwent stent surgery after a CT scan revealed partial blockage of an artery. He said Lieu “plans to be back at work next week” and “does plan to watch a lot of TV as he recovers.”
Lieu is an outspoken Trump critic who frequently comments on the impeachment proceedings to his 1.2 million Twitter followers.
Nadler gavels the meeting open
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) has gaveled the meeting open to continue consideration of a resolution with two articles of impeachment against Trump.
Trump renews attacks on Schiff
As the Judiciary Committee prepared to reconvene, Trump renewed his attacks on Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.).
Amid a continuing spate of tweets and retweets, Trump highlighted his claim earlier this month that Schiff is “a totally corrupt politician.”
“Very sad!” Trump said of Schiff, whose committee drafted a 300-page report on Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine that is the basis for the articles of impeachment.
Trump pushes back against impeachment in fresh batch of tweets
Trump returned to Twitter early Thursday morning to push back on Democratic efforts to impeach him.
In one tweet, he said that new polls show most Americans oppose impeachment, attributing that information to the Fox News show “Fox & Friends.”
Some polls in recent days have showed a slim majority opposed to removing Trump from office, but others have showed slightly more Americans in favor of removing than keeping him.
In a Monmouth University poll released this week, 45 percent of Americans said they think that Trump should be impeached and removed from office, while 50 percent disagreed.
Meanwhile, an Economist-YouGov poll showed that 44 percent of Americans support the Senate removing Trump if he is impeached by the House, while 40 percent were opposed.
Trump proceeded to tweet and retweet the assessment of Republican lawmakers and conservative pundits that he should not be removed from office. Many of the tweets included clips of Republicans arguing against impeachment at Wednesday night’s meeting of the House Judiciary Committee.
House Judiciary Committee scheduled to resume deliberations at 9 a.m.
The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to resume consideration of the two articles of impeachment against Trump — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — at 9 a.m.
After opening statements Wednesday night from the panel’s members, amendments to the articles will be considered Thursday in a session expected to stretch several hours.
Democrats are confident they have the votes to approve both articles, setting up votes by the full House next week before the holiday break.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said a trial would begin in his chamber in early January. Senate Republicans are coalescing around a strategy of holding a short impeachment trial early next year that would include no witnesses.
Congress has impeached only two presidents: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before the House could vote on articles of impeachment in the Watergate scandal. Lawmakers drafted three articles against Nixon, including charges of “high crimes and misdemeanors” that mirror the abuse-of-power and obstruction allegations Trump now faces.
Trump to host congressional ball at the White House
Trump and first lady Melania Trump are scheduled to host an annual congressional ball at the White House on Thursday night.
The event, listed on Trump’s public schedule at 7 p.m., could provide an incentive for Republican lawmakers to wind down their efforts at the House Judiciary Committee by then.
Trump’s schedule for Thursday also includes remarks at a White House summit on child care and paid leave, scheduled for 11:15 a.m.
Schiff booked to appear on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), a key figure in the impeachment inquiry, is booked to appear Thursday night on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
By the time the CBS program airs at 11:35 p.m. Eastern time, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to have approved two articles of impeachment against Trump.
Schiff’s panel conducted depositions and public hearings and drafted a 300-page report on Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine that is the basis for the articles of impeachment.
Scalise says Democrats have not made their case, urges ‘no’ vote on impeachment
In a letter to Republicans urging them to vote against the impeachment articles, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) claims that Democrats have failed to make their case.
“The impeachment inquiry has been rigged from the start, lacking fairness, transparency and most importantly, facts,” he says in the letter, distributed late Wednesday night. “The sham articles of impeachment were written based on a report that was drafted with presumptions, cherry-picked witnesses, lack of input by the minority and the President, and contested facts. Even with the deck stacked in their favor, Democrats have failed to make their case because no impeachable actions occurred.”
Scalise contends that the article alleging abuse of power “does not cite any crime or facts on improper actions taken by President Trump.”
The article alleging obstruction of Congress “ignores long-standing constitutional privileges exercised by the President that have historically been negotiated with Congress and adjudicated by the Courts,” he says.
Democrats and Republicans court each other’s votes
During Wednesday night’s three and a half hours of opening statements, Democrats and Republicans cast the impeachment vote in the context of history, each warning the other would end up on the wrong side of it.
“To my Republican colleagues, fighting when it’s comfortable is easy. Running and hiding is easy. But it doesn’t leave a legacy. How do you want to be remembered during this watershed moment in our nation’s history?” Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.) asked.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) asked: “Will one, just one of my Republican colleagues, say it would be wrong for any president to commit the conduct the president has been accused of?”
Several Republicans said it was the Democrats who were doing a disservice to the country.
“I was going to make a request to my colleagues and for the outside as well, to put country over party,” Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) said. “The founders of this country warned against a single party impeachment. You know why? Because they feared it would divide our nation.”
“Tomorrow we write history, a history that cannot be undone,” said Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.). “The American people deserve a process that is led by our promise to protect and defend the Constitution. The American people simply deserve better.”
Impeachment: What you need to read
Here’s what you need to know to understand the impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
What’s happening now: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Democrats unveiled two articles of impeachment on Tuesday against Trump, on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Here’s what that means.
What happens next: The House Judiciary Committee meets Thursday to consider those articles and possible amendments. The articles will then be voted on, one by one, by the Judiciary Committee, setting the stage for a full House vote next week. Here’s a guide to how impeachment works.
How we got here: A whistleblower complaint led Pelosi to announce the beginning of an official impeachment inquiry on Sept. 24. Closed-door hearings and subpoenaed documents related to the president’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky followed. After two weeks of public hearings in November, the House Intelligence Committee wrote a report that was sent to the House Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee met publicly with constitutional scholars and lawyers from the Intelligence Committee on Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine.
Stay informed: Read the latest reporting and analysis on impeachment proceedings here.
Listen: Follow The Post’s coverage with daily updates from across our podcasts.
Want to understand impeachment proceedings better? Sign up for the 5-Minute Fix to get a guide in your inbox every weekday. Have questions? Submit them here, and they may be answered in the newsletter.
