Trump Impeachment News: President May Be Impeached As Early As Christmas

It might not be a Merry Christmas for embattled president Donald Trump.

The fast-paced impeachment inquiry by House Democrats into Trump's seeming abuse of power in the Ukraine scandal might see the House impeach Trump the week before Christmas. Given the House is controlled by Democrats, Trump's impeachment may be certain considering the evidence arrayed against him.

Political analysts noted a series of moves taken by Democrats this week confirm they're quickly moving to wrap up impeachment proceedings before the Congressional recess. The fast track impeachment strategy taken by House Democrats involves avoiding court battles that will delay their impeachment inquiry and limiting the number of witnesses at public hearings.

It also involves conducting public hearings starting next week and withdrawing subpoenas issued against persons that might delay the impeachment inquiry in court. This was the reason why House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) decided Thursday not to subpoena former national security adviser John Bolton, who was fired by Trump on September 10.

A potentially blockbuster witness, Bolton privately raised concerns about the Ukraine scandal. Schiff's decided against compelling Bolton to testify after a former Trump aide's counsel warned Republicans would sue over any subpoena.

"We have no interest in allowing the administration to play rope-a-dope with us in the courts for months," said a House Intelligence Committee official quoted by CNN.

Schiff has revealed three more witnesses will testify next week. There will be at least one more week of public hearings on the week of November 18, CNN noted.

The House will take a recess for Thanksgiving week starting November 28. This pause will give Schiff's committee time to finish its report detailing its findings and recommendations along with House Oversight and House Foreign Affairs committees.

The House Judiciary Committee will then take the lead on the impeachment inquiry by the first week of December. It expected to hold a public hearing that same week before it votes on the articles of impeachment.

This vote might occur in the committee in the first or second week of December, according to sources among the Democrats. All these moves will lead to a full House vote to impeach Trump on the week of December 16.

The swiftness of the inquiry reveals the amount of evidence House investigators have obtained over the past two months since the whistleblower complaint revealing Trump pressured Ukraine to help investigate former vice president Joe Biden.

Investigators have interviewed more than a dozen witnesses behind closed doors. These witnesses have confirmed Trump directed his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to push for Ukraine publicly announcing an investigation into Biden in exchange for Trump releasing $400 million in congressionally mandated funds he withheld from Ukraine.

If impeached, Trump will be only the third president to suffer this ignominy in U.S. history. The other two were Andrew Johnson (1865-69) and William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (1993-2001). Former president Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached by the House.