What's Next On The Impeachment Front? House Judiciary Committee Schedules Hearing, Invites Trump

The House Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday it would begin its impeachment hearings next week and invited President Trump and his legal team to participate.

The committee scheduled its first hearing for Dec. 4 to explore the historical and legal bases for impeachment. Experts are expected to testify about constitutional precedent.

Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., sent a letter to the White House, notifying Trump of the hearing and offering his attorneys the chance to question witnesses.

“We expect to discuss the constitutional framework through which the House may analyze the evidence gathered in the present inquiry,” the letter reads. “We will also discuss whether your alleged actions warrant the House exercising its authority to adopt articles of impeachment.

“If you would like to participate in the hearing, please provide the committee with your notice as soon as possible.”

Trump earlier Tuesday tweeted he would love for former national security adviser, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and acting White House Chief of State Mick Mulvaney to testify before House impeachment investigators, who are trying to determine if Trump tried to leverage military aid to Ukraine in exchange for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

Asked if he would testify, Pompeo responded: “When the time is right, all good things happen.”

Bolton has indicated he could shed light on the issues impeachment investigators are examining but has declined to testifying without a court ruling directing him to do so. However, he tweeted Tuesday that U.S. national security priorities are under attack “from within.”

The House Intelligence Committee is expected to forward the report from its own proceedings to Nadler’s panel next week. The intelligence panel conducted several weeks of closed-door depositions and public hearings that laid out a pattern of abuse by the administration toward Ukraine.

The Judiciary Committee announcement followed a decision Monday by a federal court judge, directing former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify before the Judiciary Committee, which subpoenaed him as part of an investigation into whether Trump tried to obstruct justice in connection with the investigation into Russia’s attempt to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. The Justice Department appealed the ruling Tuesday.

Trump has been calling the impeachment inquiry a hoax and witch hunt. During Tuesday’s traditional turkey pardoning, he joked that the birds had been subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee for a closed-door deposition.

Elsewhere, the House Budget Committee released a report accusing the White House Office of Management and Budget of abusing its authority by holding up $391 million in military aid to Ukraine.