House debates impeachment of Trump, vote expected Thursday
WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee began debate Wednesday and worked to finalize legislation outlining two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump for allegedly coercing Ukraine to launch political investigations and trying to block a congressional investigation.
The Judiciary Committee is expected to vote along party lines Thursday on the drafted articles of impeachment, charging the president with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
A full vote in the Democrat-controlled House is expected next week. If the articles are adopted, the case moves to the Senate, where it’s unlikely Republicans will join with minority Democrats to muster the 67 votes necessary to remove the president from office.
Tempers have flared over the past weeks as Democrats and Republicans have jockeyed to present their case to the American people and the Senate.
“If we don’t respond to President Trump’s abuse of power, those abuses will continue,” said Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.
Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, the ranking Republican on the committee, retorted: “This is nothing new.”
He accused Democrats of trying to overturn the 2016 presidential for nearly three years, and for the past 12 months in the committee.
“We have spent all year in this committee trying to impeach the president,” Collins said.
The Georgia Republican called it “a three-year vendetta” by Democrats.
Behind Republican members in the hearing room were political placards. One was a picture of the six investigative committee chairs, all members from New York, Massachusetts and California.
The placard was entitled: “Coastal Impeachment Squad.”
Elite Democrats
Conservative firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, accused Democrats of elitism and belittling the will of voters in the rural states of Ohio, Texas, the South and Midwest.
But Democrats said Republicans were attacking the impeachment process rather than offering a vigorous defense of the president’s actions in dealings with Ukraine, where he sought an investigation into political rival Joe Biden.
The articles of impeachment stem from a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. During the call, Trump asked Zelenskiy for “a favor,” a request that the country launch political investigations into Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who served on a Ukrainian gas company board of directors, and into a debunked theory that Ukraine, not Russia, meddled in the 2016 election.
As the request was being made, the Trump administration withheld nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine to fend off Russian-backed separatists.
The White House released the transcript of the telephone call after a whistleblower told the inspector general for intelligence agencies about the contents of the conversation and the request for an investigation into Biden.
Abuse of office
Rep. Dina Titus, a Nevada Democrat and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Trump “abused his office for personal, political gain by soliciting Ukrainian interference in the 2020 election.”
Democrats said the president’s request for a Ukrainian investigation was made after both Trump and Biden had announced presidential candidacies. Trump wanted the investigation to help his re-election, Democrats charged.
“He was behind in the polls to Joe Biden,” said Joe Neguse, D-Colo.
Trump’s next move was calculated, according the obstruction charge.
“When he got caught, he engaged in a major cover-up by directing his subordinates to ignore subpoenas and withhold key documents for Congress,” Titus said.
There were 12 witnesses, former and current administration officials, who failed to testify before Congress or provide documents required by subpoena.
A Judiciary Committee party-line vote appeared a foregone conclusion after a night of partisan-tinged speeches.
Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, called it “a sad day for America.”
Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York said, “we must hold this president accountable.”
Nevada has no members on the Judiciary Committee. But Silver State lawmakers will be expected to cast ballots on the divisive issue as early as next week.
Two members are still mulling the impeachment charges against the president, Democrat Rep. Susie Lee, who represents a congressional district that includes Henderson that Trump narrowly carried in 2016, and Rep. Mark Amodei, the only Republican in the delegation.
Titus and Democrat Rep. Steven Horsford both said the testimony and evidence presented before congressional committees have convinced them that the president broke his oath of office to defend the Constitution and support the articles of impeachment.
In the Senate, Nevada Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen supported the House impeachment inquiry. Both will take part in a Senate trial if the full House approves the articles of impeachment.
Trial strategy
Republican leaders have huddled over strategy for a Senate trial, favoring a quick trial at the beginning of next year. Trump has predicted acquittal in the upper chamber, and has used the House impeachment hearings as a rallying cry to supporters at campaign rallies.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said this week that he doesn’t see a two-thirds majority to remove the president from office.
The House Judiciary Committee has voted to impeach a president only three times in history.
Andrew Johnson was acquitted by the Senate in 1868. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before a full House vote, and Bill Clinton was acquitted by the Senate in 1999 after the House voted to impeach him for perjury and obstruction of justice.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.
