Multiple House Judiciary Committee members call for the impeachment process against Donald Trump to begin
This evening, Donald Trump announced that he was illegally “instructing” former White House Counsel Don McGahn not to show up and testify before the House Judiciary Committee tomorrow. McGahn then announced that he would illegally side with Trump and not show up. This prompted multiple Democrats to call for Trump’s impeachment to begin – some of them in public.
Things came to a head when Democratic Congressman David Cicilline tweeted that “If Don McGahn does not testify tomorrow, it will be time to begin an impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump.” An impeachment inquiry would be the first in a number of steps in what is a lengthy and complex impeachment process. Cicilline’s tweet promptly received tens of thousands of likes, showing where the public stands on the matter. He wasn’t the only one.
Influential House Judiciary Committee members Pramila Jayapal and Ted Lieu announced through Newsweek and Politico, respectively, that they also want an impeachment inquiry to begin. That’s when House Democrats met privately to figure out a gameplan. At that point Jamie Raskin and Joe Neguse argued behind closed doors that an inquiry should begin, according to the Washington Post. That put things in the hands of Chairman Jerry Nadler and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
After the meeting was over, Pelosi and Nadler publicly announced that they’re not quite there yet, citing the fact that they’re winning key legal battles against Trump in court – including today’s ruling that Mazars can turn over Trump’s financial records – that could set up a stronger impeachment inquiry if they wait a bit longer. But then the Washington Post revealed that Nadler did in fact privately tell Pelosi that he wants the impeachment inquiry, but he ultimately deferred to her in public.
This means that the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and several of its most influential members are now all in favor of beginning the impeachment process. They’ll defer to Nancy Pelosi for the moment. But assuming Donald Trump continues to escalate his lawlessness, it’s difficult to imagine that Pelosi can hold off her own caucus for more than a couple weeks at most. An impeachment inquiry against Trump is now all but certain to happen – and soon.
