Nadler, his compatriots and their leader, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have said that impeachment isn’t a foregone conclusion and that it depends on the outcome of their process.
Republicans were dubious, arguing that Democrats had decided to impeach first and then sought to find a case that fit.
Speakers’ Colloquium
Appearing on Wednesday were professors Noah Feldman of Harvard Law School; Pamela Karlan of Stanford University; Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina; and Jonathan Turley of George Washington University Law School.
The witnesses detailed the historical context of the Constitutional Convention and vision of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and other early U.S. luminaries as it pertained to their discussions about including impeachment in the Constitution.
Feldman, Karlan and Gerhardt agreed that the Constitution’s “high crimes and misdemeanors” framework fits today in connection with Trump’s actions in the Ukraine affair.
Karlan said she had reviewed the material collected by Congress and was convinced about how far outside the bounds she said Trump has strayed.
“Everything I read on those occasions tells me that when President Trump invited — indeed demanded — foreign involvement in our upcoming election, he struck at the very heart of what makes this a republic to which we pledge allegiance,” she said.
The case is so clear, the first three professors said, that lawmakers can’t not continue to pursue impeachment.
“If Congress fails to impeach here, then the impeachment process has lost all meaning and, along with that, our Constitution’s carefully crafted safeguards against the establishment of a king on American soil,” Gerhardt warned.
Turley, however, said the case remains incomplete with evidence not yet obtained and witnesses not yet deposed. He also rejected the idea that Trump had obstructed Congress by asking courts to bar witness testimony or documents.
The president has that right and the courts have that role, Turley argued, and if Congress resorts to impeachment, it will be the one to have abused its power under the Constitution, he said — not the president.
Turley also invoked the example of a few radical Republicans in the case of President Andrew Johnson — the first chief executive who was impeached — who did not vote to remove the president because they felt the case was weak, even though their compatriots were exhorting them to do so.
“To impeach a president on this record would expose every future president to the same type of inchoate impeachment,” Turley said. “Principal often takes us to a place where we would prefer not to be.”
Republicans Step Up Their Defenses
The Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Trump’s other Republican defenders mocked and faulted the Democrats’ process thus far, calling it unfair and groundless.
Collins noted that Nadler had convened Wednesday’s hearing in a different room with different details for the TV coverage — but had not advanced the facts in any way.
“What’s not new is this is the same sad story,” he said.
Impeachment, Collins said, is a “railroad job” perpetuated by Democrats who loathe Trump and are fearful he might be reelected next year.
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