Impeachment, Round Two

After weeks of hearings in the House Intelligence Committee, Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) will have the chance to further make the case that the president is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed from office.

It is unclear how the Judiciary Committee hearings will differ from those in the Intelligence Committee, but one Democratic source told Politico that “Intel will handle the facts, Judiciary will handle the law.” In other words, Judiciary will lay out how exactly Trump might be removed from office. Republicans are already raising objections over the Democrats’ list of witnesses, reported to include several constitutional scholars. The White House may also be allowed to call witnesses and offer exculpatory evidence.

The exact definition of an impeachable offense is left somewhat vague in the Constitution. Further, Congress, which is a political and not a legal body, is left to determine what constitutes “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Given that the Democrats command a majority in Congress, the impeachment vote is a foregone conclusion. That is why Trump and his associates are so far refusing to cooperate in the process.

If the Democrats decide to pursue a vote on impeachment, it could be held within weeks. The Senate would then take the impeachment baton by January, holding a “trial” to decide Trump’s fate. According to the current consensus, the Republican-controlled Senate will vote against removing the president, ending the monthslong affair and leaving voters to decide who won this latest round of partisan bickering.