We told you impeachment is on the table
Earlier this year, when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was asked about impeaching Donald Trump, she said she needed to see the results of the investigations into Trump first, and that in the meantime, impeaching him for the sake of impeaching him wasn’t worth it. The media widely mischaracterized this as Pelosi having permanently taken impeachment “off the table.” We told you that wasn’t the case, and sure enough, now it’s in writing.
The House Judiciary Committee began contempt of Congress proceedings this morning against Attorney General William Barr. This is a multi step process. Today was the first day they could lay out the accusations and charges against Barr. Wednesday is the earliest the committee can vote on it. The entire House will have to vote after that. This process isn’t as simple as outside observers wish it were. But the committee’s filings against Barr today were as crucial as the eventual outcome of the case against him.
In the contempt of Congress filing against Barr, Chairman Jerry Nadler laid out what is essentially a de facto criminal indictment against William Barr, detailing the crimes and improprieties he’s accusing Barr of having committed. This is important, because once the House Democrats begin dishing out legal consequences against Barr, he’ll try to fight it in court, and the Democrats will have to convince the judge that their punitive actions against Barr are justified. So what does this have to do with impeachment?
In making his legal argument that the House Judiciary Committee is justified in holding William Barr in contempt, Chairman Nadler specifically spelled out that his committee is where impeachment begins. In other words, he’s saying that holding Barr in contempt is a first step in the potential impeachment process against Barr, Trump, and anyone else in the Trump regime who ends up getting impeached. This does not prove that impeachment is going to happen – but it does prove that impeachment has always been on the table, and has always been a part of the gameplan for Pelosi and the House Democrats.
