On Wednesday, December 4, a new phase of impeachment inquiry into President Trump began. Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler, D-NY, assembled a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee to decide what actions are needed and if any articles of impeachment will be drafted.
Four different law professors were brought into the Judiciary Committee meeting. Noah Feldman, Pamela Karlan, and Michael Gerhart were called in by Democrats, and Jonathan Turley was requested by Republicans. Nadler invited these witnesses to help the Judiciary Committee to understand the historical and legal context for the impeachment before proceeding. The hope was to provide a conceptual framework for what could be the articles of impeachment.
The three professors brought in by Democrats argued that Trump’s actions were deeply worrying and should be impeachable. Feldman said, “If we cannot impeach a president who abused his office for personal advantage, we no longer live in a democracy,” according to the New York Times.
Turley, the professor on the Republican side, argued that Democrats were not taking time to fully investigate the case. He said that the case developed so far would cheapen the impeachment and create a dangerous precedent. He told the New York Times, “This isn’t improvisational jazz - close enough is not good enough.”
Moving forward, Democrats have the majority on the House Judiciary Committee which could advance the impeachment to the floor of the full House. Here, with enough support, the House could rule that there is sufficient evidence to bring President Trump to trial in the Senate. However, the Republican Party currently has a majority in the Senate. If Trump were sent to trial, one of the major questions would be whether or not allegiance to party would overrule a fair trial.
There was an Intelligence Committee report released on December 3 that laid a broad framework for what articles of impeachment might look like. The report stated that the president abused his power, endangered national security for his own benefit when seeking foreign involvement in the 2020 election, and obstructed Congress by not allowing key witnesses to testify.
In an interview with NPR, Daniel Freeman, former parliamentarian to the House Judiciary Committee, said that “the most contentious part of the job is crafting the articles of impeachment.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on December 5 that House Democrats would move forward with the drafting of articles of impeachment against President Trump. She said, “Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our Founders and our heart full of love for America, today I am asking our chairmen to proceed with the articles of impeachment.”
Shortly after Pelosi’s announcement, Trump tweeted, “If you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair trial in the Senate, and so that our country can go back to business.”
House Democrats must decide whether they want to limit their case to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine or include the earlier accusations that he obstructed justice when trying to stop the special counsel’s Russia investigation.
On Tuesday December 10, the house Democrats announced that they will bring two articles of impeachment against Trump, abuse of power and obstruction of justice. According to NPR news the resolution said “President Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”
Once the articles are finalized, the Judiciary Committee will send them to the House for a vote on whether or not to impeach Trump. If the Democratic-led House votes to impeach Trump, then there will be a Republican-led Senate trial in the month of January concerning whether or not to remove or acquit the President.