Impeachment live updates: Democrats accuse Trump of criminal bribery, wire fraud in report that explains 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.
●Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) calls for testimony from acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, former national security adviser John Bolton.
●Trump goes after the teeth of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
●Freshman Democrats push to make Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) an impeachment manager.
How impeachment works | House resolution impeaching Trump | House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment inquiry report | House Judiciary Committee’s report
Conservatives push back on Schumer’s call for new witnesses
Schumer’s call for additional witnesses to testify during Trump’s trial in the Senate drew pushback Monday from some conservatives, who noted that the senator had opposed the introduction of new evidence in President Bill Clinton’s Senate trial.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), David Popp, shared a Washington Examiner story highlighting the discrepancy on Twitter, posting only the headline with the link: “Schumer wants witnesses for a Trump trial, but rejected them for Clinton in 1999.” The story pointed to a quote from an interview Schumer gave to CBS in January 1999, in which he suggested that calling additional witnesses amounted to “political theater.”
CNN host John Berman pressed Schumer about his changed stance during an interview Monday morning. When the senator answered by saying there was no “bipartisan negotiation” for witnesses in the Clinton trial, Berman asked repeatedly what had changed.
“What I’m asking is there be a fair negotiation focused on the facts between McConnell, and . . . I would expect Democrats and Republicans to support,” he said. “I expect some of my Republican colleagues . . . will say that’s fair.”
Pressed again by Berman, Schumer added: “There’s a difference in the whole basis of the situation, but we should have the facts come out.”
Bustos offers to hire recently resigned staff of Rep. Van Drew
Rep. Cheri Bustos (Ill.), chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has offered to hire the resigning staff of Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a freshman Democrat from New Jersey who opposes impeachment and is expected to switch parties later this week.
“It’s right before the holidays and these staffers just quit their jobs to stand up for their Democratic values,” Bustos said in a tweet. “We’ll bring them and others who leave on with the @dccc until they land new jobs that align with their values.”
In a joint letter on Sunday, five of Drew’s staffers wrote that his “decision to join the ranks of the Republican Party led by Donald Trump does not align with the values we brought to this job when we joined his office.”
Trump raises possibility of skipping debates hosted by traditional group
President Trump raised the possibility Monday that he will not participate in debates against the Democratic nominee hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates, alleging the nonprofit group that traditionally sponsors the events is biased against him.
In tweets, Trump claimed he is looking forward to debating “whoever the lucky person is who stumbles across the finish line in the little watched Do Nothing Democrat Debates.” But he said the commission is “stacked with Trump Haters & Never Trumpers.”
“As President, the debates are up to me, and there are many options, including doing them directly & avoiding the nasty politics of this very biased Commission,” Trump said. “I will make a decision at an appropriate time but in the meantime, the Commission on Presidential Debates is NOT authorized to speak for me (or R’s)!”
Trump’s tweets come as the House prepares to vote to impeach him this week, setting up a trial in the Republican-led Senate, which is not expected to remove him from office.
Read more here.
Rep. Slotkin says she’ll vote for both articles of impeachment
Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a freshman Democrat who represents a district Trump carried in 2016, announced Monday that she would support both articles of impeachment against him — but said she did not make her decision lightly.
“To be clear, presidents from both parties have leveraged the powerful role of the United States to get foreign countries to do what’s in our interest,” Slotkin said in a piece for the Detroit Free Press. “But here’s the fundamental difference: President Trump used the power of the presidency for his own benefit, to give himself some advantage in the very election that would determine whether he remained in office.”
Slotkin, a former CIA officer, was part a group of moderate Democrats in swing districts seen as possible defectors from their party on the impeachment votes.
Trump calls impeachment ‘the greatest con job in the history of American politics’
Trump returned to Twitter on Monday morning to call impeachment “the greatest con job in the history of American politics.”
“The Fake News Media, and their partner, the Democrat Party, are working overtime to make life for the United Republican Party, and all it stands for, as difficult as possible!” he tweeted.
Earlier, Trump shared several posts by conservative allies, including one that showed House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) being heckled as he boarded a members-only elevator in a House office building.
In the footage, which appears to have been shot after the committee voted to impeach Trump on Friday, a man can be heard saying, “You’ve broken your oath, but you know what? Keep doing it, keep doing it, because the American people see through it. It’s going to work in President Trump’s favor.”
“Shame on you, sir. You’ll be exposed for your treason,” the man later says.
Other tweets shared by Trump included one with the letters “BULL-” followed by an image of the head of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.).
White House press secretary says it’s ‘laughable’ that Democrats say they want a fair trial
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed Monday that it was “laughable” for Schumer to assert that he wants Trump to have a fair trial.
In a tweet, Grisham quoted Schumer, who made multiple television appearances Monday morning, saying, “Let us hope that fairness will prevail.”
“ ‘Let us hope that fairness will prevail’ a laughable quote from @SenSchumer this AM....after the dems release an ‘impeachment report’ in the middle of the night,” Grisham tweeted. “Thankfully the people of this country continue to see the partisan sham that this is.”
She was referring to the 658-page House Judiciary Committee report, which was posted on the House Rules Committee website after midnight. The Judiciary Committee announced the filing of the report in a news release around 7 a.m. on Monday.
The Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday to determine the parameters of the House floor debate on the impeachment resolution on Wednesday.
Schumer presses case for more witnesses in Senate trial
Schumer pressed his case Monday to subpoena several senior Trump administration officials who did not testify in the House’s impeachment probe as witnesses for Trump’s expected trial next month in the Senate.
“To not have them is to engage in a coverup,” the Senate minority leader said during an appearance on MSNBC’S “Morning Joe.” “These witnesses are vital to determining exactly what has happened.”
In a letter Sunday to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Schumer outlined a number of procedural demands that Democrats say would make the Senate trial fair and able to be completed “within a reasonable period of time.”
That includes subpoenas issued by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. for acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney; Robert Blair, a senior adviser to Mulvaney; former national security adviser John Bolton; and Michael Duffey, a top official at the Office of Management and Budget. Mulvaney, Blair and Duffey had been subpoenaed by the House committees and defied the summons; Bolton has not been subpoenaed but indicated he would fight one in court.
Schumer said he reached out to McConnell about two weeks ago about the parameters for a Senate trial but did not hear back from him.
“I hope now he will talk to me,” Schumer said.
McConnell has raised the possibility of ending the trial after opening arguments without hearing from any witnesses. Trump, meanwhile, has said that he would like a longer trial with witnesses including the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry, as well as Joe and Hunter Biden.
Schumer said Monday that the trial should only include witnesses with knowledge of what is alleged in the House articles of impeachment.
Schumer was also critical of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who said over the weekend that he has already made up his mind and has “disdain for the accusations” against Trump.
“I think his comments demean him,” Schumer said.
Democrats accuse Trump of criminal bribery and wire fraud in report accompanying articles of impeachment
Democrats accuse Trump of criminal bribery and wire fraud in a 658-page report released early Monday that explains the two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — that the full House is scheduled to consider on Wednesday.
The report argues that Trump’s solicitation of investigations from Zelensky at a time when military aid was being withheld meets the definition of both constitutional and criminal bribery — terms that are not made explicit in the articles of impeachment drafted by the House Judiciary Committee.
Trump’s July call with Zelensky also meets the standard of federal wire fraud, the report argues.
“The first Article of Impeachment charged President Trump with an abuse of power as that constitutional offense has long been understood,” the report says. “While there is no need for a crime to be proven in order for impeachment to be warranted, here, President Trump’s scheme or course of conduct also encompassed other offenses, both constitutional and criminal in character, and it is appropriate for the Committee to recognize such offenses in assessing the question of impeachment.”
“Applying the constitutional definition of ‘Bribery’ here, there can be little doubt that it is satisfied,” it continues. “President Trump solicited President Zelensky for a ‘favor’ of great personal value to him; he did so corruptly; and he did so in a scheme to influence his own official actions respecting the release of military and security assistance and the offer of a White House meeting. Although President Trump’s actions need not rise to the level of a criminal violation to justify impeachment, his conduct here was criminal.”
The report also details the article of impeachment for obstruction of Congress, accusing Trump of having directed executive branch agencies and officials not to comply with subpoenas issued during the impeachment inquiry “without lawful cause or excuse.”
“Taken together, the articles charge that President Trump has placed his personal, political interests above our national security, our free and fair elections, and our system of checks and balances,” the report says. “He has engaged in a pattern of misconduct that will continue if left unchecked. Accordingly, President Trump should be impeached and removed from office.”
The report also includes a dissent written by Rep. Douglas A. Collins (Ga.), the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee.
“To these Articles, the minority dissents,” Collins says. “The majority’s actions are unprecedented, unjustifiable and will only dilute the significance of the dire recourse that is impeachment. The ramifications for future presidents are not difficult to surmise.”
Trump plans campaign rally on day he’s likely to be impeached
Trump is planning to stage a campaign rally in Michigan on Wednesday — the same day the House is expected to vote to impeach him.
He plans to travel to Battle Creek in his second trip to the state this year. Trump narrowly carried Michigan over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, and the state will be key to the Republican’s prospects in 2020.
Trump has little on his public schedule Monday. He is scheduled to participate in a roundtable discussion on regulatory reform late in the morning and attend a pair of private Christmas receptions later in the day.
Nation remains sharply divided on impeachment, poll finds
The country remains sharply divided over whether Trump should be impeached — and few people seem to be changing their views, according to a new NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll.
Forty-seven percent of Americans support the impeachment of Trump while 48 percent are opposed, according to the poll. Those finds are statistically unchanged since last month despite the public hearings and debate that has ensued.
“It’s like the hearings have never happened,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the poll. “The arguments have only served to reinforce existing views and everyone is rooting for their side.”
Six staffers resign as anti-impeachment Democrat Rep. Jeff Van Drew plans to join the GOP
At least six senior aides working for Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a freshman Democrat from New Jersey who opposes impeachment and is expected to switch parties later this week, resigned Sunday in a mass exodus following the legislator’s decision to jump to the GOP.
“Sadly, Congressman Van Drew’s decision to join the ranks of the Republican Party led by Donald Trump does not align with the values we brought to this job when we joined his office,” five Washington-based staffers wrote in a letter obtained by The Washington Post.
The officials who signed the resignation letter — legislative director and deputy chief Javier Gamboa, deputy chief Edward Kaczmarski, deputy chief Justin O’Leary, communications director Mackenzie Lucas and legislative staff assistant Caroline Wood — said they were “deeply saddened and disappointed” by their boss’s decision. A sixth staffer based in New Jersey, Van Drew’s director of constituency relations CeCe Doherty, also reportedly resigned Sunday evening.
Read more here.
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: The House Judiciary Committee has approved two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
What happens next: The full House of Representatives will vote on impeachment sometime this week. If the House impeaches Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the Senate will hold a trial in January. Here’s how the Senate trial might work.
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, which held its own hearings. Pelosi and House Democrats announced the articles of impeachment against Trump on Dec. 10.
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.
