Finishing two weeks of public hearings, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) looks ready to punt the ball to House Judiciary Chairman Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.) to write up articles of impeachment. While Schiff would not say whether or not he planned to call more witnesses, all indications point to Schiff wrapping up his work and handing the baton to Nadler. House Speaker Nancy Peolosi (D-Calif.) looks on the same page as Schiff, agreeing that it’s time to pass the work on to the House Judiciary Committee to complete articles of impeachment. Hearing from numerous witnesses, Schiff believes he has compelling evidence corroborating 73-year-old President Donald Trump’s abuse of power, using his office to coerce 40-year-old Ukrainian President Zolodymr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his 50-year-old son, Hunter.
House Democrats led by Schiff plan to recommend articles of impeachment based on cherry picked testimony, hearing nothing exculpatory, including the testimony of Zelensky himself. Schiff doesn’t want to hear from Zelesnsky who stated unequivocally Sept. 25 that Trump did not “push” him for any information before getting $391 million in military aid. House Democrats heard testimony from a variety of second-and-third-hand National Security and State Department officials who said Trump pressured Zelensky in a July 25 call to dig up dirt on the Bidens. But Zelensky has clarified he was not pressured in a quid pro quo to give Trump anything in exchange for his military aid. Pelosi has accused Trump of violating his oath, bribing Zelensky to give him dirt on the Bidens. Whatever happened in the July 25, it had nothing to do with what Joe and his son Hunter did in Ukraine
House Democrats don’t want to acknowledge that anything unethical happened while Joe Biden ran Obama’s Urkaine anti-corruption task force. What’s known for sure, admitted by Hunter Biden, is that Joe landed him a $150,000 a month job on Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma Holdings board. Schiff wants to cherry pick two weeks of testimony to fashion his report to the House Judiciary Committee. There’s plenty of exculpatory evidence taken by Schiff to end the impeachment proceedings without sending articles of impeachment to the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has already said it’s “inconceivable” that there’s 67 votes to remove Trump from office. “The investigation isn’t going to end,” Schiff told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday morning’s “State-of-the-Union.” Schiff thinks he has plenty of evidence to write articles of impeachment.
Schiff would like to interview former National Security Adviser John Bolton, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Schiff knows they won’t testify anytime soon, pushing subpoenas into a federal court battle. “We’ve heard and seen compelling evidence that the president committed serious wrongdoing,” said Rep. Joaquin Castor (D-Texas), a member of House Intelligence Committee. Castro heard or saw only what Schiff wanted him to see. No exculpatory evidence was permitted in the closed-or-open hearings, even where witnesses contradicted themselves. Even Democrats’ star witnesses, European Union [EU] Amb. Gordon Sondland admitted he didn’t know the actual reason why Ukrainian funds were withheld. Schiff insists funds were held back until Trump received dirt on Joe and Hunter Biden.
Schiff plans to wrap-up his work and send his final report to the House Judiciary Committee. Once Nadler takes over, he’s expected to draft articles of impeachment to be sent to the Senate. There’s little Nadler can do other that parrot back the Intel Committee’s findings, regardless of the one-sided testimony. Trump said he wants a trial Nov. 22, putting Democrats on notice that all bets are off in any trial. Trump awaits Department of Justice Inspector General [IG] Michael Horozitz report on the FBI’s 2016 counterintelligence investigation. If Horowitz finds illegal action at the FBI, including by former FBI Director James Comey, it’s going to upend the House impeachment proceedings. It’s going to make the House impeachment proceeding look like another unfounded partisan witch-hunt, designed to give Democrats their best shot at beating Trump in 2020.
Nadler’s Judiciary Committee has shown even more bias against Trump than Schiff’s Intel Committee. Nadler was ready to impeach Trump after cherry picking Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s March 23 Final Report. Nadler thinks he has an open-and-shut case on obstruction of justice against Trump. Nadler could expand Trump’s impeachable offenses beyond the July 25 call with Zelensky. Nadler thinks Trump committed numerous impeachable offenses including obstruction of justice and violating the Constitution’s Emolument Clause, selling hotel rooms to foreign guests. However long the House Intel and Judiciary Committees take to draft articles of impeachment, McConnell plans a far swifter trial in the Senate. While Trump wants his day in court, McConnell won’t let it drag on too long before calling a vote to once-and-for-all end the Democrats impeachment proceedings.
