‘The House alone must decide’: Jerry Nadler releases Judiciary Committee report saying that Congress has the final say over what conduct President Trump can be impeached for
- House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler released the staff report on Saturday
- Presents legal analysis of what constitutes grounds for impeachment
- Concludes that the House has the final say on what conduct is impeachable
- Comes after Speaker Pelosi directed Democrats to draft articles against Trump
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler has released a staff report concluding that the House alone can decide what type of conduct constitutes grounds for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
The New York Democrat on Saturday released the 55-page analysis of the legal grounds for impeachment, which was prepared by staff for the committee’s Democratic majority.
‘In the end, it is the House—speaking for the Nation as a whole—that must decide whether the President’s conduct rises to the level of ‘high Crimes and Misdemeanors’ warranting impeachment,’ the report concludes.
The impeachment probe has focused on a July 25 telephone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open an investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who sat of the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was vice president.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (left) has released a staff report analyzing the legal grounds for impeaching President Donald Trump
Trump bashed the Democrats’ imminent impeachment vote in a tweet on Saturday, saying that rough transcripts of the July 25 call vindicate him.
‘Read the Transcripts! Also, see where I say “us” (our Country) as opposed to “me” (meaning me) and where I then say that the Attorney General (of the United States) will call you,’ Trump wrote.
He continued, referencing House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff: ‘People still remember Schiff’s made up and fraudulent version of my conversation. Witch Hunt!’
The House Judiciary Committee’s Democratic lawmakers are due to meet on Saturday and Sunday behind closed doors to sift through evidence against the Republican president and draft articles of impeachment that the panel could recommend for a full House vote as early as Thursday.
Articles of impeachment are the equivalent of formal charges, which if approved by the House would trigger a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate.
On Friday, the White House told Nadler it would not take part in the panel’s hearings and condemned the inquiry as ‘completely baseless.’
Nadler expressed disappointment in a statement: ‘The American people deserve answers from President Trump.’
Developing story, check back for updates.