Impeachment live updates: House Democrats have enough votes to impeach Trump, according to a Post analysis
Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office that he takes “zero” responsibility for the fact that he is about to be impeached.
Trump’s letter and comments came as the House Rules Committee was meeting to set the parameters for the historic debate expected Wednesday over whether the president’s conduct toward Ukraine violated his oath of office.
Earlier Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rejected calls from Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to subpoena new witnesses in a Senate trial, calling it “a strange request at this juncture.”
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 leaders battle over impeachment trial after McConnell rejects Democrats’ calls for witnesses.
●Americans locked in partisan stalemate on removing Trump from office, Post-ABC poll finds.
●Russian disinformation network said to have helped spread smear of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
How impeachment works | House resolution impeaching Trump | House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment report | Which House members support impeaching Trump
Rep. Golden says he will vote for one article of impeachment
Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) announced he will vote for one of the two articles of impeachment, in the first split decision among Democratic lawmakers.
According to the Bangor Daily News, Golden will vote to impeach Trump for abuse of power but not for obstruction of Congress.
In a four-page statement, Golden said Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens “crossed a clear red line, and in my view, there is no doubt this is an impeachable act,” the newspaper reported.
But Golden argued that on the issue of obstruction of Congress, Democrats had not presented evidence that Trump’s actions rose to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Golden represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, a swing district that Barack Obama won by nine percentage points in 2012 but that Trump won by 10 points in 2016.
More Democratic lawmakers back impeachment
A half-dozen more House Democrats announced one by one that they will back Trump’s impeachment, bringing the total so far to 214 — just short of the 216 necessary for the articles to be approved.
Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), one of the members who announced their support for impeachment, said in a statement that he takes “no joy” in his decision.
“This is a sad, painful, and divisive situation for our nation,” he said. “But impeachment is the direct result of the President’s own words and actions. And we have a duty to our Oath of Office and the Constitution to not stand silent.”
Other Democrats who announced their support include Reps. Debbie Dingell (Mich.), Cheri Bustos (Ill.), Haley Stevens (Mich.), Lauren Underwood (Ill.) and Cindy Axne (Iowa).
Trump legal team eyes Dershowitz as possible impeachment lawyer
Trump’s legal team is working to line up as many as three lawyers to defend the president in the upcoming Senate trial, and has contacted Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz as a possible attorney to join the slate. The talks are in a tentative stage and it’s not clear Dershowitz, a seasoned defense lawyer and expert in constitutional law, will participate in Trump’s defense, according to a person familiar with the legal strategy.
Dershowitz declined to comment.
Trump’s advisers are expecting White House Counsel Pat Cipollone to give the opening statement in Trump’s defense at the trial, and are considering adding as many as two other personal lawyers who could summarize the evidence and defenses in a closing argument.
Trump’s longtime lawyer Jay Sekulow, who represented him throughout the more than two-year-long special counsel investigation, is a top contender for that “closing” role, but may have to defer to others. Sekulow has pressing work on several active legal disputes over the president’s finances and records which will be heard before the Supreme Court, the person briefed on the planning said.
Trump slams Pelosi for saying she prays for him
Trump criticized Pelosi for saying that she prays for him in a letter that compared the impeachment inquiry unfavorably to the Salem witch trials.
“You are offending Americans of faith by continually saying ‘I pray for the President,’ when you know this statement is not true, unless it is meant in a negative sense,” Trump wrote in the letter.
Trump also said Pelosi’s “false display of solemnity” is “perhaps most insulting of all.”
“No intelligent person believes what you are saying,” Trump wrote. He added: “You are making a mockery of impeachment and you are scarcely concealing your hatred of me, of the Republican Party, and tens of millions of patriotic Americans.”
Pelosi, a devout Catholic, has said on several occasions that she prays for the president.
The subject came up on Dec. 5 when a Sinclair Broadcasting Group reporter asked Pelosi whether she hates Trump.
“As a Catholic, I resent your using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me. I pray for the president all the time. So don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that,” she told the reporter.
Trump responded by questioning Pelosi’s sincerity, tweeting: “I don’t believe her, not even close.”
Van Drew hints at a decision on leaving Democratic Party, promises announcement soon
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) hinted to reporters Tuesday that he has made a decision about whether to leave the Democratic Party, but is not ready to announce his intentions.
“I have not made a decision that I’m willing to share with anybody for a short period of time,” Van Drew said, calling his comments last week that he would stay a Democrat “a hope and a wish.”
But Van Drew took a few shots at the Democratic Party — and not just over impeachment, a move he warned would “fracture the country apart even more.”
When asked where he agreed with the GOP, Van Drew offered “American exceptionalism” — adding that many Democrats “do not believe the idea that America is any better than any other country in the world.”
When asked why many members of his Washington D.C. staff were quitting, he said “they were told to … they had to or else they wouldn’t work again.” But he declined to say who had asked them to quit, saying only that “if there was a switch and they stayed, I think it would be very hard for them to work. But that was up to them.”
Van Drew also confirmed Tuesday that he is running for reelection.
Schumer says GOP should have to explain why less evidence is better than more
Schumer said Tuesday afternoon that Republicans should “have to explain why less evidence is better for the president than more evidence.”
Schumer’s comments came as he and McConnell continued a public dispute over whether new witnesses should appear at a Senate trial of Trump. Schumer has proposed issuing subpoenas to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton, among others, who declined to participate in the House inquiry.
Schumer challenged McConnell to come to the microphone and give “an explicit reason” why those witnesses shouldn’t testify. McConnell has said the Senate should vote on witnesses after both House Democrats and lawyers for Trump make opening arguments.
“Why is the president, why is the Republican leader so afraid to have these witnesses come testify?” Schumer asked.
Schumer also chided McConnell for his comments made just minutes before that he does not consider himself an “impartial juror” in the upcoming trial.
“He seemed to proudly say no,” Schumer said, expressing disbelief and urging reporters to ask other Republicans what they think about that.
McConnell says he’s not ‘an impartial juror’
McConnell said Tuesday that he does not consider himself “an impartial juror” in the expected Senate impeachment trial of President Trump.
“I’m not an impartial juror. This is a political process,” McConnell told reporters at the Capitol. “I’m not impartial about this at all.”
McConnell’s comments come as he faces criticism from Democrats for acknowledging that he is closely coordinating with the White House in advance of a Senate trial that is expected to start early next month. Democrats have said his actions amount to a jury foreman coordinating with the defense team.
McConnell predicted that the House vote on impeachment would break almost entirely along partisan lines and said he expects “an almost entirely partisan outcome” in the Senate as well.
Trump says he takes ‘zero’ responsibility for his impeachment
In an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office before a meeting with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, Trump was asked directly whether he takes responsibility for the fact that he is about to be impeached.
“No, I don’t take any,” he responded. “Zero, to put it mildly.”
He once again argued that Democrats were impeaching him over “a perfect phone call that I had with the president of Ukraine.”
“To impeach the president of the United States for that is a disgrace, and it’s a mark on our country,” he said.
Trump sends letter to Pelosi voicing ‘strongest and most powerful protest’ against impeachment
Trump sent a scathing six-page letter to Pelosi Tuesday afternoon expressing his “strongest and most powerful protest” against impeachment, which he described as a partisan “crusade” by Democrats.
“This impeachment represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power by Democrat Lawmakers, unequaled in nearly two and a half centuries of American legislative history. … By proceeding with your invalid impeachment, you are violating your oaths of office, you are breaking your allegiance to the Constitution, and you are declaring open war on American Democracy,” he wrote.
In the letter, Trump repeatedly accused Democrats of many of the same offenses of which he himself is accused.
“You are the ones interfering in America’s elections,” he wrote. “You are the ones subverting America’s Democracy. You are the ones Obstructing Justice. You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our Republic for your own selfish personal, political, and partisan gain.”
Trump also renewed his complaints about the impeachment process, arguing that “more due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials.”
“You have cheapened the importance of the very ugly word, impeachment!” he wrote.
Kellyanne Conway expected to join GOP senators for lunch Wednesday
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is scheduled to have lunch with Senate Republicans on Wednesday — the same day the House is expected to approve two articles of impeachment against Trump — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
During the lunch, Conway and the GOP senators will discuss impeachment trial strategy, according to an aide to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who organizes the Wednesday lunches.
Schiff says Pence’s office may have purposefully misled panel about contents of his Zelensky call
Vice President Pence has refused to declassify testimony that is “directly relevant” to the impeachment debate, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote Tuesday in a letter that raised further questions about what Pence said in a September phone call with Zelensky.
In a letter to Pence, Schiff wrote that classified witness testimony gathered during the impeachment inquiry “raises profound questions about your knowledge of the President’s scheme to solicit Ukraine’s interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.”
Pence spokeswoman Katie Waldman declined to comment.
Read more here.
Rep. Abby Finkenauer to vote for articles of impeachment
Rep. Abby Finkenauer, a freshman Democrat representing an Iowa congressional district that Trump carried in 2016, announced Tuesday that she would support both articles of impeachment against Trump.
“I will be supporting both articles of impeachment and honor my duty to defend our constitution and democracy from abuse of power at the highest level,” Finkenauer said in a statement. “This decision is not, and was never about politics, and this shouldn’t be about political parties or elections. It’s about facts, dignity in public service, and honoring those who fought and continue to fight to protect our sacred democracy.”
Merry Christmas, you’re being impeached
President Bill Clinton stood at a lectern in the Rose Garden, surrounded by supporters, including his wife, first lady Hillary Clinton. The votes had been counted, and the news had arrived: He was being impeached.
“I hope there will be a constitutional and fair means of resolving this matter in a prompt manner,” he said. “Meanwhile, I will continue to do the work of the American people.”
He decried the “excessive partisanship” and “obsessive animosity” of the day. Then he turned around, shook hands, walked back into the White House and threw a Christmas party.
In an amazing episode of “history repeats itself,” the House is expected to vote to impeach Trump on Dec. 18 — one day short of the 21st anniversary of the House voting to impeach Clinton on Dec. 19, 1998. Both arrived awkwardly in the holiday season known for “glad tidings” and “goodwill toward men.”
Read more here.
Divergent takes presented as Rules Committee deliberates
Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Douglas A. Collins (R-Ga.) offered sharply divergent takes on Trump’s conduct as they began their presentations to the Rules Committee.
Raskin said the House inquiry produced “overwhelming evidence” to support the two articles of impeachment against Trump — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Raskin characterized Trump’s conduct as “the Ukraine shakedown” and said the president had engaged in “outrageous defiance of Congress.”
Raskin was standing in for House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who had a family emergency.
Collins, the top Republican on the Judiciary panel, argued that Democrats had cherry-picked evidence to support their preexisting biases against Trump.
Delivering a colorful and fast-paced opening statement, Collins compared the atmosphere surrounding impeachment on Capitol Hill to “Alice in Wonderland” and said Democrats’ efforts were like “last-minute Christmas shopping.”
“They ran and found something and said, ‘We can do it,’ ” he said of the charges contained in the articles of impeachment.
Rick Gates sentenced to 45 days in jail, 3 years’ probation for conspiracy and lying to FBI in Mueller probe
Former deputy Trump campaign chairman Rick Gates was sentenced to 45 days in jail Tuesday despite crimes that could have put him in prison for five or six years, after offering what prosecutors described as extraordinary cooperation with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia probe.
Gates can serve the sentence on weekends, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said. Gates, who will be on probation for three years, must also pay a $20,000 fine and perform 300 hours of community service.
In sentencing Gates, Jackson said she struggled to balance his crimes with the vital “evidence about matters of grave and international importance” he offered federal prosecutors.
“Gates’s information alone warranted, even demanded further investigation from the standpoint of national security, the integrity of our elections, and enforcing criminal laws,” Jackson said.
Read more here.
Rep. Kendra Horn to vote for impeachment
Another centrist Democrat announced Tuesday that she will vote to impeach Trump, bringing the number of House lawmakers who have voiced support for both articles of impeachment to 206.
Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Okla.) said in a statement that “allowing one branch [of government] or president to ignore our laws and Constitution would set a dangerous precedent.”
“It is with a heavy heart, but with clarity of conviction that I have made my decision,” Horn stated. “The oath I took to protect and defend the Constitution requires a vote for impeachment. This is not a decision I came to lightly, but I must do my part to ensure our democracy remains strong.”
In her decision, Horn sided with several other Democrats who represent districts that voted for Trump in 2016. She was elected in 2018 to represent Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, which Trump carried by 13.4 points.
Reps. Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) announced Monday night and Tuesday that they would also support the articles of impeachment.
Cole decries a ‘partisan’ impeachment process
In opening remarks, Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), the top Republican on the Rules Committee, decried what he said was a “partisan” impeachment process and said the case against Trump does not meet standards endorsed by Pelosi.
Pelosi had pledged not to move forward with impeachment unless it was bipartisan and reflected the national consensus.
Pointing to a poll showing the country divided on removing Trump from office, Cole said, “When half of Americans are telling you what you’re doing is wrong, you should listen.”
McGovern gavels Rules Committee to order
House Rules Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) has gaveled his panel to order.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to be here today, but the actions of President Trump make that necessary,” McGovern said as the proceedings got underway.
The Rules Committee is tasked with setting the parameters of the debate on the House floor on Wednesday.
Van Drew does not attend first House votes of week
Van Drew, expected to switch parties this week after a vote on Trump’s impeachment, did not attend the first House votes of the week Tuesday.
Van Drew skipped votes on, among other things, a procedural measure bringing $1.3 trillion on federal spending to the House floor, one of the most consequential pieces of legislation of the year.
Fellow New Jersey lawmakers seethed over his party switch as the votes were being taken.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.) said he no longer considered Van Drew welcome on the Democratic side of the aisle.
“Politics is not where the wind blows,” he said. “You’re in the wrong place if that’s what you’re about. You stand, you commit. You don’t do foolish things.”
‘What is President Trump afraid of? The truth?’ Schumer asks
Schumer on Tuesday defended his request for subpoenaing witnesses for a Senate trial and challenged Trump and Republicans to explain “why less evidence is better than more evidence.”
“What is Leader McConnell afraid of? What is President Trump afraid of? The truth?” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor.
He continued later: “President Trump: Are you worried about what these witnesses would say? If you’re not worried, let them come forward, and if you are worried, we ought to hear from them.”
Schumer on Sunday sent a letter to McConnell requesting subpoenas for testimony from four current or former Trump administration officials with knowledge relevant to the impeachment inquiry. McConnell rejected the request in a floor speech about an hour before Schumer’s.
The Democratic leader pointed to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Tuesday that found that 64 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of independents believe Trump should let his advisers appear before the Senate.
“We will have votes on whether these people should testify and whether these documents will be made public and part of the trial, and the American people will be watching,” Schumer said. “They will be watching who is for an open and fair trial, who is for hiding facts … [and] who is covering up.”
McConnell seems to reject Schumer call to subpoena senior administration officials during trial
McConnell on Tuesday rejected a call from his Democratic counterpart to subpoena new witnesses to testify during a Senate impeachment trial.
Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell said the request by Schumer on Sunday was “dead wrong” and suggested that the House’s case against Trump is “deficient.”
“We certainly do not need jurors to start brainstorming witness lists for the prosecution,” McConnell said, referring to the role of senators during the trial.
The remarks came in response to a letter from Schumer in which the Democrat outlined a number of procedural demands he said would make an impeachment trial more fair. The demands included subpoenas for Mulvaney; Mulvaney senior adviser Robert Blair; Bolton; and top Office of Management and Budget official Michael Duffey.
Mulvaney, Blair and Duffey have defied subpoenas from House committees, while Bolton, who has not been subpoenaed, has said he would fight one in court.
“The fact that my colleague is already desperate to sign up the Senate for new fact-finding … suggests something to me,” McConnell said of Schumer.
“It suggests that even Democrats who do not like this president are beginning to realize how dramatically insufficient the House’s rushed process has been,” he said. “If House Democrats’ case is this deficient, this thin, the answer is not for the judge and jury to cure it over here in the Senate. The answer is that the House should not impeach on this basis in the first place.”
Sen. Mike Braun suggests his mind is made up for acquittal
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) suggested Tuesday that he has made up his mind to support Trump’s acquittal during a Senate impeachment trial unless new information emerges about the case.
“It’s not like we haven’t heard a lot about it … Why belabor it?” the freshman senator said on MSNBC, under repeated questioning from host Hallie Jackson. “ … If we don’t hear anything new, I think most people have their minds made up.”
When Jackson said it sounded like Braun had made his decision, he did not dispute it. He also questioned the need for more witnesses.
“I don’t think they’re going to land much. … I think it belabors the point,” he said.
Braun predicted that a trial would begin Jan. 6 and last 10 days to two weeks, “if we give the whole process its due and if it doesn’t involve witnesses.”
Collins says he’ll press for eight hours of debate
Rep. Douglas A. Collins (Ga.), the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said he would argue for Democrats to “give us as much time as they possibly can” during debate over impeachment on the House floor.
Collins is scheduled to appear before a meeting of the House Rules Committee alongside Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the Judiciary Committee who is filling in for House Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).
The Rules Committee is tasked with setting the parameters for Wednesday’s debate on two articles of impeachment on the House floor. Collins said he would like to see eight hours of debate.
Collins suggested deliberation by the Rules Committee will not be pretty.
“If you ever had a root canal, it would look very similar,” he said.
Russian disinformation network said to have helped spread smear of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine
The story that appeared on the Hill website March 20 was startling.
Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, had given a “list of people whom we should not prosecute” to Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Yuri Lutsenko, according to a write-up of an interview Lutsenko gave to conservative columnist John Solomon.
Five days later, an image of that purported list appeared in a post on the website Medium and on a number of other self-publishing platforms in locations as disparate as Germany, South Africa and San Francisco. In less than a week, the Medium essay had been translated into Spanish and German and posted to other websites.
Now, a social media analysis firm, Graphika, has traced those posts to a Russian disinformation campaign — in the first evidence that a network of accounts involved in spreading disinformation before the 2016 election also participated in circulating the false claims about Yovanovitch that led to her recall from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv earlier this year.
Read more here.
Pelosi may not name House managers for days
While the House is expected to vote on impeachment articles Wednesday, it could be days before the managers for a Senate trial are named.
Two Democratic aides said Tuesday that a procedural measure setting up debate on the articles will empower House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to name managers “at any point” after the House votes to impeach Trump.
The aides spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The question of which members Pelosi will name to present the House’s case has been a subject of fevered speculation on Capitol Hill, but leaders are keen to save the announcement for another day. In the past, the House has voted on a resolution naming the managers.
“The rule will allow the speaker to name managers at any point after the articles pass,” a senior Democratic aide said. “There will be a debate and vote on that resolution.”
Republican lawmaker predicts no less ‘drama’ in the Rules Committee
A Republican member of the House Rules Committee predicted that the atmosphere of partisan conflict that has dominated impeachment proceedings will continue during Tuesday’s meeting about the articles of impeachment.
“All of the drama you saw in the Committee on the Judiciary last week … I don’t expect any less drama today as these articles, or the rule for debating these articles, is set,” Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-Tex.) told Fox News before the hearing.
The Rules Committee is charged with setting terms for the floor debate over the articles, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
Burgess said the meeting “should take some time,” but predicted it would be “significantly rushed” by Democrats.
“That is not a good way to approach something this significant,” he said.
Trump points to stock market performance in arguing against impeachment
Trump pointed to the performance of the stock market in arguing against his impeachment on Tuesday.
“The Stock Market hit another Record High yesterday, number 133 in less than three years as your all time favorite President, and the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, want to impeach me,” Trump said in his first tweet of the morning. “Don’t worry, I have done nothing wrong. Actually, they have!”
Rep. Mikie Sherrill to vote for impeachment
Another freshman Democrat whose district voted for Trump announced Tuesday that she will vote in favor of articles of impeachment, arguing that Trump “put his own political interests before our country” in his dealings with Ukraine.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (N.J.) cited her experience in the military and as a federal prosecutor in the statement about her decision: “After reviewing the testimony and the statements of the President himself, it is clear that he used his office for his own personal gain,” Sherrill stated. “In short, the President has violated the very principles upon which our country was founded.”
As of Monday night, 35 Democrats and one Republican member of the House had not stated their position on impeachment, according to a tally by The Post.
Sherrill was one of the seven freshmen Democrats who wrote in an op-ed for The Post in September that “if these allegations [against Trump] are true, we believe these actions represent an impeachable offense.”
Rep. Brindisi says he’ll vote for impeachment
Rep. Anthony Brindisi, a freshman from New York who was considered one of the Democrats most likely to break with his party on impeachment, announced Tuesday that he would vote in favor of both articles.
“It is with profound sadness I will vote to impeach President Trump,” Brindisi, whose district Trump carried in 2016, said in a tweet. In other tweets, he said: “President Trump is my President too. I’ve always said I would work with him to get things done, as I have demonstrated. However, I will always put Country first and stand up for what I believe in when I think he is wrong.”
Earlier, Brindisi told the Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y., that he believes it’s clear that Trump endangered national security by asking Zelensky for political favors in exchange for a White House visit and the release of nearly $400 million in military aid authorized by Congress.
“The fact this president withheld aid from Ukraine for his own political gain is very troubling,” Brindisi said. “In fact, I think it’s unconstitutional.”
Conway dismisses Schumer’s call for new witnesses as ‘whining’
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday dismissed calls by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) for new witnesses at a Senate trial as “whining” about process rather than substance.
“He’s trying to get the fix in there early to say, ‘Oh the Senate trial was unfair,’ ” Conway said during an interview on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.” “He has to pregame and complain that he feels left out, his feelings are hurt.”
Republicans lawmakers have consistently complained that the impeachment inquiry in the House has been unfair. Trump was invited to participate in the House process, but he refused.
In recent days, Schumer has advocated calling several witnesses who declined to appear before House investigators, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton.
Nadler to miss Rules meeting due to family emergency
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) will not be present at Tuesday’s Rules Committee meeting due to a family emergency, according to a Judiciary committee aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personal matters.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has been tapped to fill in for Nadler, whose committee approved two articles of impeachment last week.
The committee aide said lawmakers are hopeful that Nadler will return on Wednesday for the full House debate on impeachment.
House Rules Committee to set parameters of impeachment debate
The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 11 a.m. to debate how the articles of impeachment will be debated and voted on by the full chamber on Wednesday.
Set to take place in a cramped room just off the House gallery, the session could last late into the night if Republicans offer numerous amendments. But the outcome is not in doubt, since Democrats hold a 9-to-4 majority on the panel.
Next will come a procedural vote by the full House, expected around midday Wednesday, launching the debate, which is expected to last several hours and culminate in an evening vote on the two articles of impeachment. The House also is planning to vote on a resolution formally naming House managers, or prosecutors, for the Senate trial, who will be selected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
The Senate trial is expected to start in early January.
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 welcome Guatemalan president to White House
As the House prepares to impeach Trump, he and first lady Melania Trump plan to welcome Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales and his wife, Patricia MarroquÃn, to the White House on Tuesday afternoon.
The four of them are scheduled to meet in the Oval Office before the two presidents hold an expanded bilateral meeting. The White House has said the visit is “an opportunity to thank President Morales for being the first Central American leader to sign and implement the historic Asylum Cooperation Agreement with the United States.”
Trump is also scheduled to participate in a Christmas reception at the White House on Tuesday afternoon.
Trump’s conservative critics, including George Conway, launch new super PAC
On the eve of Trump’s impeachment, a group of his conservative critics, including George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, announced the launch of a new super PAC with the aim of defeating Trump and his “enablers” at the ballot box.
“Our efforts are aimed at persuading enough disaffected conservatives, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in swing states and districts to help ensure a victory in the Electoral College, and congressional majorities that don’t enable or abet Mr. Trump’s violations of the Constitution, even if that means Democratic control of the Senate and an expanded Democratic majority in the House,” four leaders of the group, dubbed the Lincoln Project, wrote in a New York Times op-ed.
In addition to Conway, other authors of the piece include veteran GOP consultants Steve Schmidt, John Weaver and Rick Wilson. Others involved in the effort, according to the group’s website, include Reed Galen, an independent political strategist; Jennifer Horn, a former chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican Party; and Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist.
In the op-ed, the group is critical not only of Trump but of congressional Republicans who have opposed the president’s impeachment.
“Congressional Republicans have embraced and copied Mr. Trump’s cruelty and defended and even adopted his corruption,” the four authors write. “Mr. Trump and his enablers have abandoned conservatism and longstanding Republican principles and replaced it with Trumpism, an empty faith led by a bogus prophet.”
Americans locked in partisan stalemate on removing Trump from office, Post-ABC poll finds
As the House prepares to vote on two articles of impeachment against Trump, Americans remain both deeply divided and locked into their positions over which course lawmakers should pursue, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Weeks of public testimony and days of rancorous committee hearings on the president’s efforts to pressure Ukrainian leaders to investigate a political rival have had no impact on how Americans see the charges pending against the president.
Despite the stalemate, most Democrats and Republicans alike expect that a Senate impeachment trial will give Trump a fair hearing. Bipartisan majorities, including almost 2 in 3 Republicans, also say he should allow his top aides to testify, something he blocked during the House inquiry.
On the eve of the House vote, 49 percent of Americans say Trump should be impeached and removed from office, while 46 percent say he should not. Those are essentially identical to findings at the end of October, when 49 percent favored impeachment and removal and 47 percent were opposed. The latest poll also finds that regardless of whether Trump committed an impeachable offense, 49 percent say he improperly pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son, while 39 percent say Trump did not do this.
Read more here.
Large majority of Americans say Trump should allow senior administration officials to testify at trial
While the White House has prevented senior administration officials from appearing before the House committees conducting the impeachment investigation, a large 71 percent majority of Americans say the president should allow those officials to testify at a Senate trial, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
That includes majorities across partisan and demographic lines. Among Democrats, 79 percent say Trump should let his advisers appear before the Senate, while 64 percent of Republicans agree. Among independents, 72 percent favor their appearance. There is also sizable agreement among men and women, whites and nonwhites, and all age groups, contrary to the divisions over impeachment itself.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is advocating for several senior administration officials to testify, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton.
Amy Kennedy considers bid for Van Drew’s seat
Amy Kennedy, a former public school teacher and the wife of former congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.), announced late Monday that she is considering running for the congressional seat occupied by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, the freshman Democrat from New Jersey who opposes impeachment and is expected to switch parties.
“My husband, Patrick J. Kennedy, and I have supported Congressman Jeff Van Drew in the past, but he has clearly lost his way,” Amy Kennedy, a New Jersey resident, said in a statement. “Today I am launching an exploratory committee to consider a run for the 2nd Congressional District of New Jersey. As a mother of five and a former public school teacher for thirteen years, running for office was not in my life plan, but Congressman Van Drew’s recent actions, including switching parties, proves that he is no longer putting the needs of the district first.”
In an early morning tweet on Tuesday, Trump praised Van Drew.
“Congressman Jeff Van Drew is very popular in our great and very united Republican Party,” he wrote. “It was a tribute to him that he was able to win his heavily Republican district as a Democrat. People like that are not easily replaceable!”
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 is expected to vote on impeachment Wednesday. 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.
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