Rep. Jamie Raskin called nonsense on Republicans who are arguing that the articles of impeachment against President Trump are invalid because they don’t include any real ‘crimes.’
Raskin, testifying for the Democrats at Tuesday’s House Rules Committee impeachment meeting, said a lot of the conduct listed in the two articles of impeachment ‘could become part of criminal indictments later on.’
The Maryland Democrat reminded the room that Republicans were the first to argue that a sitting president can’t be indicted.
‘They then cannot turn around and say “oh and you cannot impeach him because you haven’t charged him with any crimes and prosecuted him and indicted him,”‘ Raskin argued.
The Democrat said it was like saying ‘heads I win, tails you lose.’
Rep. Jamie Raskin reminded the House Rules Committee Tuesday that President Trump could still face indictment after leaving office
House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern kicked off Tuesday’s hearing. It will be the last stop for the two articles of impeachment against President Trump before a full House vote
‘We didn’t have to see that Richard Nixon had been convicted of burglary in the District of Columbia … before he was charged with abuse of power,’ Raskin said.
Raskin’s dangling of indictments was a noteworthy moment in hearing that will mostly consist of wonk.
The Rules Committee decides what debate on the House floor looks like.
Tuesday’s hearing will be the last, long, and contentious public hearing on impeachment before it moves to the House floor for a full vote among all lawmakers in the lower chamber.
The House Rules Committee – consisting of nine Democrats and four Republicans – kicked off shortly after 11 aM EST.
The fiercely partisan panel wields much power.
It will determine how long lawmakers on the House floor will debate the two articles of impeachment against the president and how many amendments can be offered during the process.
Tuesday’s hearing could last well into the night if Republicans on the panel offer multiple amendments to the process – all of which will be expected to fail given the Democratic majority.
Still it gives lawmakers on both sides of the aisle one last to put on a show for the television cameras as the impeachment process wraps up its journey in the House and prepares to move across the Capitol into the Senate.
The hearing is taking place in a small room on the third floor of the Capitol, tucked across the hallway from the viewing galleries of the House.
Cramped and crowded, tensions could run high as the day goes on.
And it comes as a new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds Americans deadlocked on whether Trump should become the third president in U.S. history to be impeached: 49 per cent say he should be impeached and removed from office, while 46 per cent say he should not.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler won’t be there.
He’s had a family emergency so Raskin took take the lead in presenting the impeachment articles, DailyMail.com confirmed.
Nadler is expected back in the House on Wednesday, which is the day the full chamber is expected to vote on the articles of impeachment.
It will take a simple majority to impeach Trump. Each article – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – will get a separate vote on the House floor.
Lawmakers are expected to hash out a number of things during Tuesday’s hearing – including the kind of language that is used on the floor, according to Roll Call.
It’s usually a no-no for members of Congress to disparage the president of the United States on the House floor, but since impeachment revolves around the president’s misconduct, greater allowances will likely be made.
After the Rules Committee establishes the rules governing the floor process for the impeachment articles, they move to the full House.
The House on Wednesday is expected to take a series of votes – first a procedural vote to begin debate on the impeachment articles, followed by said debate – expected to be long and loud – and finally the final vote on the articles of impeachment.
The two articles are expected to pass given Democratic control of the House. Additionally, several Democrats in swing districts have said they will vote yes on impeachment, assuring the inquiry will move forward.
The House on Wednesday also plans to vote on a resolution formally naming House impeachment managers, or prosecutors, for the Senate trial, who will be selected by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Senate holds the trial – presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it will begin in January after senators return from their holiday break.
He and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer are set to meet this week to determine the process the Senate trial, including its precise start date, how long it will last and whether additional witnesses will be called.