House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday held a special closed-door meeting with her caucus on impeachment, according to reports.
“Are you ready?” the California Democrat asked her caucus, reported Politico. She asked the question before outlining the constitutional circumstances posed by President Donald Trumps alleged misdeeds in office.
A senior Democratic official told Politico that Democrats “overwhelmingly” showed support for advancing the impeachment inquiry “one step at a time.”
“There is this somber almost resignation that yeah, this is something were compelled to do, and we have to do,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) told the outlet. “We dont really have a choice here,” he added. “We look at the facts, we read the Constitution and then we have to decide whether or not were going to do our job.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told the website that “if the Judiciary Committee comes forward with recommendations, I think theres time do it” by the end of 2019.
“The direction we got from Chairman Schiff was, were not going to wait endlessly for John Bolton to decide that the country is more important than his book deal,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) to the Post.
According to The Hill, the meeting on Wednesday was largely designed to allow Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to summarize his 300-page report. The findings were sent to the Judiciary Committee.
Pelosi, in the meeting, told Democrats to try and stick to the carefully crafted message that has been put forth by Schiff, Politico reported.
The Judiciary Committee is expected to hold at least three hearings on impeachment, including a session where lawmakers might vote on articles of impeachment.
At the first hearing, the three legal experts called by Democrats backed impeachment. Noah Feldman, a Harvard Law School professor, said he considered it clear that the presidents conduct met the definition of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Pamela Karlan, a Stanford Law School professor and former Obama administration Justice Department official, said the presidents action constituted an especially serious abuse of power “because it undermines democracy itself.”
Republican witness Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said that the Democrats wereRead More – Source
