(Video at link)
(The 300 page Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report is seen after being released by the U.S. House Intelligence Committee on Dec. 3 in Washington. The House released a sweeping impeachment report outlining evidence of what it calls Trumps wrongdoing toward Ukraine. The findings will serve as the foundation for debate over whether the 45th President should be removed from office.)
Three constitutional scholars summoned by Democrats will testify Wednesday that President Trumps conduct toward Ukraine rises to the level of impeachment, as the inquiry moves to a new phase with the first hearing by the House Judiciary Committee, a panel prone to theatrics and partisan brawls.
Another law school professor, tapped by Republicans, will caution against impeachment. The focus is shifting from the House Intelligence Committee, which voted along party lines Tuesday to approve a 300-page report that concluded that Trump had compromised national security to advance his personal political interests.
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At the heart of Democrats case is the allegation that Trump tried to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine in the face of Russian military aggression, to pressure President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch investigations of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as well as an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
10:10 AM: Republicans demand their own day of hearings, attempt to delay Nadler
The hearing opened with polite but obvious tensions between the two parties.
As Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) gaveled the room to order, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) interrupted with a formal request for a day of hearings to be run by Republicans without input from the Democratic majority.
I am furnishing you with a demand for a minority day of hearings on this subject signed by all of the Republican members of the committee, and I would request that you set this date before the committee votes on any articles of impeachment, Sensenbrenner said.
We will confer and rule on this later, Nadler said.
A Republican Judiciary Committee aide, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about GOP strategy, said the request is not subject to Nadlers discretion and that if the chairman declines to schedule the hearing, a point of order could be raised on the House floor against articles of impeachment.
A letter sent to Nadler by GOP members of the committee, circulated by the Republican side, cited part of a House rule that allows members of the minority party to call witnesses selected by the minority to testify with respect to that measure or matter.
While the Chairman of the committee schedules the minority hearing, his responsibility to invite the minoritys witnesses is ministerial. A Chairman cannot refuse to invite a witness because he believes the witnesses testimony would be impertinent, the letter stated.
Trumps 2020 presidential campaign manager Brad Parscale mocked the three witnesses called by Democrats Wednesday, labeling them the Three Stooges and liberal Democrats in a tweet.
Parscale also sent out a video featuring footage of the three professors making critical comments about Trump and his administration.
Meet the Three Stooges, the new impeachment witnesses the Democrats are trotting out today to continue their impeachment hoax, Parscale said. Theyre liberal Democrats who oppose President Trump and support impeachment. Just more of the same old sham!
Poster Comment:
Three Stooges
These leftist 'perfessers' have no shame to stand in front of the illegal committee staging the unfitness of President Donald Trump. This entire charade is despicable!