It was only weeks ago that Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., declared the House Judiciary Committee he chairs is conducting an impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
Now, according to the Hill, Nadler is planning a vote this week on “procedures for hearings.”
The vote is on how much time is reserved for asking witnesses questions. And, significantly, Nadler wants the committee’s staff to be allowed to question witnesses.
“Judiciary’s subcommittees would also be able to hold hearings as part of the probe, paving a way for Nadler to punt less-important witnesses down the line and save time,” the report said.
And the president’s lawyers would be allowed to respond.
Nadler said in a statement the “adoption of these additional procedures is the next step in that process and will help ensure our impeachment hearings are informative to Congress and the public, while providing the president with the ability to respond to evidence presented against him.”
“We will not allow Trump’s continued obstruction to stop us from delivering the truth to the American people,” he said.
The Democrats have been agitating for impeachment since Trump was elected. One of the key deterrents has been House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
She knows that if the House refers impeachment charges, the Republican-controlled Senate is unlikely to convict. And impeachment turned out to be an unpopular move politically when Republicans impeached Bill Clinton.
Despite Robert Mueller’s special counsel team finding after two years of investigation there was no Trump-Russia collusion and insufficient evidence to refer obstruction charges, Nadler still insists on describing the president’s activities as “crimes and corruption.”
The Gateway Pundit commented the Democrats “no longer legislate.”
“All they do is use time and resources to harass Trump with Soviet-style show trials.”
Nadler said in August he hoped there would be a vote on articles of impeachment on the House floor by the end of the year.
Despite Pelosi’s stated reluctance, Nadler said at the time the House speaker “has been very cooperative” and signed off on recent court filings specifying his committee’s investigation is an impeachment inquiry.
