Turns out we’re a lot closer to Donald Trump’s impeachment than we thought
When the Democrats first took control of the House of Representatives, Palmer Report explained that the path to impeaching Donald Trump wouldn’t be a straight line. Instead it would be a process that would work from the bottom up. First we’d see rank and file House members seek to build momentum by calling for impeachment. Then we’d see the chairs of lesser committees. Then it would be the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Then it would be the Speaker of the House. Then it would happen.
We’ve already seen a large number of rank and file House Democrats publicly call for impeachment. The number now stands at roughly one hundred, or nearly half the Democrats in the House. We’ve also already seen the likes of House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters publicly call for impeachment. Now it turns out House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler is 100% on board with impeachment.
After Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivered uneven yet ultimately important public testimony yesterday about Donald Trump’s crimes, Jerry Nadler met privately with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and pushed her hard to draft articles of impeachment, according to Politico. This is a big deal, both because of what Nadler did, and because of Pelosi’s response.
Politico says that Nancy Pelosi simply told Jerry Nadler that impeachment would be “premature.” That’s not a “no” or a “never.” That’s simply Pelosi saying that the timing isn’t right yet. So what’s she waiting for? House Democrats are currently fighting court battles to obtain the witnesses and evidence they’ll need in order to inject real political muscle into any impeachment proceedings. Pelosi’s response to Nadler suggests that she’s merely waiting for those court battles to be won. We’re a lot closer to impeachment than we thought.
