A press conference is currently slated for 9 AM Eastern Time at which House leadership will announce articles of impeachment against Donald J. Trump. Though the articles themselves have not yet been released to the public, indications are that the House is looking at a “narrow” impeachment, possibly with just two counts: one of abuse of office, and one of obstruction of Congress.
Some observers, and some representatives, had suggested that the basis for impeachment could be more widespread. Hearings before the Judiciary Committee contained questioning about obstruction issues raised in the report from special counsel Robert Mueller, suggesting that some of those incidents, and in particular Donald Trump specifically ordering White House attorney Don McGahn to lie to Congress, might be included in the articles. It has also been suggested that including a larger number of articles might make it possible for some Democrats in more purple districts to vote against some articles while supporting others. But early indications are that neither of those arguments held and that the impeachment is going to be strictly limited to the scandal associated with Trump’s extortion of Ukraine.
Stay tuned for live coverage as the articles are announced ...
Tuesday, Dec 10, 2019 · 2:11:07 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner
Pelosi yields to Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler for the actual announcement of the results of the impeachment inquiry.
Two articles of impeachment: Abuse of Power--an impeachable offense for the President to use the powers of his office for personal benefit while damaging national interests.
Nadler draws parallels to Trump’s actions in 2016,
Tuesday, Dec 10, 2019 · 2:15:31 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner
Schiff steps forward to explain the evidence behind the articles. Says Trump’s actions left Congress “no alternative” but impeachment. Trump’s misconduct “is as simple and terrible as this” that Trump solicited a foreign government to assist in investigation a political opponent and a conspiracy theory about the 2016 election. Trump’s actions “undermined our national security and the integrity of our next election.”
Tuesday, Dec 10, 2019 · 2:18:28 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner
Schiff hammers home the issue of obstruction, saying that it would leave Trump or any future president to be as “corrupt” or “incompetent” as they liked without consequence.
Schiff also blasts the “why don’t you just wait” argument, pointing out the extreme length of time it takes to just walk through one step of the process. “Why don’t you just wait,” is equal, says Schiff to “Why don’t you just let him cheat in another election.”