House Leadership Unveils Impeachment Articles Against President Trump

By Gene Maddaus

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – House Democrats unveiled two articles of against President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning, accusing him of abusing his power and obstructing Congress in its impeachment inquiry.

Two committee chairmen — Jerrold Nadler and Adam Schiff — laid out a case that Trump interfered in the 2020 election by pressuring Ukraine to announce an investigation involving former vice president Joe Biden.

“No one, not even the president is above the law,” said Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, argued that impeachment is urgently needed to address Trump’s ongoing misconduct, including his blanket refusal to cooperate with the probe. He said that to do nothing would be to allow future presidents to be “as corrupt, malfeasant or incompetent” as they want, with no Congressional oversight.

Schiff also argued that House Democrats should not have to wait for court rulings to compel further testimony, which he argued would drag out the process endlessly.

Calls to wait, he argued, are tantamount to asking, “Why don’t you just let him cheat in one more election?”

House Democrats opted to keep the charges narrowly focused on the Ukraine scandal, rather than including allegations stemming from Robert Mueller’s report into Russian election interference.

The articles are expected to be voted on in the House Judiciary Committee later this week, and go to the full House for a vote next week.

Stephen Castor, the Republican counsel to both committees, argued on Monday that Democrats have failed to prove their case, saying the record is “riddled with hearsay, presumptions and speculation.”