House Judiciary Committee is too busy ‘impeaching the president’ to investigate Brett Kavanaugh

Senate Democrats and presidential candidates demanding the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh are going to have to wait, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said on Monday.

The committee has its sites on another target: President Donald Trump, Nadler says.

‘We have our hands full with impeaching the president right now and that’s going to take up our limited resources for a while,’ the committee chairman told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, reports Politico.

Those pushing for the president’s impeachment have argued the committee can juggle a Trump investigation, while continuing to do other business.

That might include a separate impeachment of the embattled justice, who is currently dealing with the fallout of sexual allegations detailed in a new New York Times article.

Senate Democrats and presidential candidates demanding the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh are going to have to wait, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (above, center) said on Monday

Senate Democrats and presidential candidates are demanding the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after a new allegation of sexual misconduct was made against him in a new New York Times article

Senate Democrats and presidential candidates are demanding the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after a new allegation of sexual misconduct was made against him in a new New York Times article

Nadler insists the House Judiciary Committee has to stay focused on Trump (above) for the moment. He said it was 'imperative' that Trump be impeached to stop wrongdoing by future presidents

Nadler insists the House Judiciary Committee has to stay focused on Trump (above) for the moment. He said it was ‘imperative’ that Trump be impeached to stop wrongdoing by future presidents

The Times published its story in the early hours of Sunday morning based on claims made by Max Stier, a former male classmate of Kavanaugh’s at Yale. 

Stier – who has been on the opposing side of legal cases from Kavanaugh before and who worked for Bill Clinton – declined to be interviewed, as did the woman at the heart of his claim. 

The article initially failed to mention the woman’s refusal and drew even more controversy came when the Times omitted the fact that the woman’s friends say she does not even remember the apparent incident.

Those key details were mentioned in an excerpt of a book on which the Times article was based, and were added to the story after it was published online after someone who had seen an advance copy flagged the omission.

By then, Democrats including Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren had called for Kavanaugh to be impeached, saying the new report fueled the allegations against him.

The Times (above) published its story in the early hours of Sunday morning, based on claims made by Max Stier, a former male classmate of Kavanaugh's at Yale

The Times (above) published its story in the early hours of Sunday morning, based on claims made by Max Stier, a former male classmate of Kavanaugh’s at Yale

Stier (above) - who has been on the opposing side of legal cases from Kavanaugh before and who worked for Bill Clinton - declined to be interviewed, as did the woman at the heart of his claim

Stier (above) – who has been on the opposing side of legal cases from Kavanaugh before and who worked for Bill Clinton – declined to be interviewed, as did the woman at the heart of his claim

However, Nadler insisted the committee has to stay focused on Trump for the moment. He said it was ‘imperative’ that Trump be impeached to stop wrongdoing by future presidents. 

He adds that Congress has all the information it needs to take action. The job now is to educate the public about the process, as it relates to the president.

‘In my personal opinion, impeachment is imperative not because he’s going to be removed from office — the Senate won’t do that — but because we have to vindicate the Constitution,’ said Nadler.

President Trump (right) - a vocal enemy of the Times - has since intervened to defend Kavanaugh (left) and encourage him to sue for libel, calling the debacle a 'disgrace'

President Trump (right) – a vocal enemy of the Times – has since intervened to defend Kavanaugh (left) and encourage him to sue for libel, calling the debacle a ‘disgrace’

That means showing ‘the kind of self-dealing enrichment that this president is engaged in’ Nadler says, mentioning specifically ‘obstruction of justice that the Mueller report documented,’ would have led to an indictment if the Justice Department did not have a policy of not indicting sitting presidents.

‘We have to show that this kind of behavior … cannot be normalized,’ said Nadler.

His comments put him at odds with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has not called for an impeachment, just yet. Pelosi wants more investigation and has noted that majority public sentiment doesn’t favor formal impeachment proceedings. 

Meanwhile, Nadler is forging ahead with a Tuesday ‘impeachment hearing’ on obstruction of justice claims against the president. 

‘We are involved in an investigation to determine whether to recommend articles of impeachment to the House,’ he explains.  

Nadler, according to Politico, said a Kavanaugh investigation will have to wait until next month, when FBI Director Christopher Wray comes before the committee at a scheduled hearing. 

The hearing is now expected to strongly focus on the Kavanaugh’s past, and whether a previous FBI background check of the justice was thorough enough. 

The committee is to determine if Kavanaugh lied to the Senate.

‘These deeds that he allegedly did years ago would be very relevant to a senator voting for or against his nomination,’ Nadler said. 

President Trump – a vocal enemy of the Times – has since intervened to defend Kavanaugh and encourage him to sue for libel, calling the debacle a ‘disgrace’.

It is the latest in a string of incidents the newspaper has apologized for, most of which have involved the outlet criticizing the president. 

‘The New York Times walks back report on Kavanaugh assault claim.’ @foxandfriends The one who is actually being assaulted is Justice Kavanaugh – Assaulted by lies and Fake News!’ tweeted the president. ‘This is all about the LameStream Media working with their partner, the Dems.’

Nadler (above) has wanted a more thorough inquiry into the Kavanaugh's background, particularly from when he served in the White House counsel's office and as staff secretary from 2001 to 2006 when George W. Bush was president

Nadler (above) has wanted a more thorough inquiry into the Kavanaugh’s background, particularly from when he served in the White House counsel’s office and as staff secretary from 2001 to 2006 when George W. Bush was president

Nadler has wanted a more thorough inquiry into the Kavanaugh’s background, particularly from when he served in the White House counsel’s office and as staff secretary from 2001 to 2006 when George W. Bush was president, according to Politico.

Nadler has requested a cache of records from the National Archives relating to Kavanaugh during the Bush years, to pick up on the Senate’s interest in knowing more about the justice.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk