Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House’s Legal Committee, sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, giving him time until December 6 to answer the question: do his lawyers intend to attend the impeachment hearing.
“I am writing to you to find out if your lawyer intends to use the special privileges enshrined in the document on the impeachment procedure adopted by the Legal Committee of the US House of Representatives pursuant to resolution 660 of the House of Representatives, and to take part in the upcoming impeachment hearings,” it says in a letter to Trump, also posted on the website of the Legal Committee of the House of Representatives.
According to Reuters, the US president must decide during this time whether his lawyer is going to call witnesses and present his evidence at the upcoming impeachment hearings.
Resolution No. 660, mentioned in the letter, gives such a right to the president, however, if he illegally refuses to cooperate with the investigation and provide the information that Congress will ask for, then the president’s rights may be limited under the impeachment procedure.
Russia again
The document, sent to the US president, also mentions the investigation of special prosecutor Robert Muller about Trump's possible ties with Russia. Initially, when the congressional leadership gave the green light to the beginning of the impeachment procedure, the reason for it was the topic of the alleged pressure on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky during his conversation with Trump in July this year. However, now Congress has again remembered Mueller’s investigation.
“As you know, the Legal Committee is investigating allegations of possible obstruction of justice on your part, as detailed in the report of Special Prosecutor Robert Muller“ On Investigation of Russia's Intervention in the 2016 Presidential Election, ”Nadler said in a letter to Trump.
Recall that back in the spring of 2019, a summary was first published, and then an expanded version of the report of special prosecutor Muller, in which it was noted that Trump's campaign headquarters did not enter into a conspiracy with the Russian government in 2016 to facilitate interference in the election.
However, in the same document, Muller made an ambiguous statement regarding the possible obstruction of Trump's investigation. The commission said that it had not concluded that the president had violated the law, but at the same time clarified that such a position on Trump "should not be considered his final excuse." Then Jerry Nadler said that since Mueller could not bring charges against Trump, then this should be done by Congress.
A few days ago, Adam Schiff, head of the House’s intelligence committee, recalled Russian intervention.
“For the second time, Trump is promoting foreign interference in our elections for political gain: the last time it was Russia, now Ukraine. The current president is jeopardizing the integrity of the election process, and Congress must decide how to counter this. You cannot postpone. The question is really acute, ”Schiff wrote on November 25 on his Twitter.
Trump has now twice sought foreign interference in our elections to help him politically, first from Russia, and now from Ukraine.
This president threatens the integrity of our elections, and Congress must consider the remedy.
It cannot wait. The urgency is real. pic.twitter.com/Fpc5azfvfh
As Yury Rogulyov, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, noted in an interview with RT, the fact that Democrats are again publicly returning to the topic of “Russian intervention” is a clear indication of the weakness of the congressional position.
“Democrats are starting to grab onto a straw. That is, having no real serious grounds for accusation in the Ukrainian case, they are trying, not to completely fail the hearing, to return to the Mueller report, ”Rogulev said.
Strengthen Accusations
According to experts, one of the main problems in the process of impeachment of Trump, which is ongoing, is that the president has not yet made final charges, which should be indicated in a special document - the submission to impeachment, and for which they will then vote in the lower house of Congress. CNN sources say that this vote should take place in the coming weeks - before Christmas, which is celebrated in the US on December 25.
According to the American media, the official charges against which the decision to impeach Trump will be made will most likely be formulated on the basis of the report of the intelligence committee headed by Adam Schiff. He promised to submit a document after Congress returned to work after a long Thanksgiving weekend.
- Adam Schiff
- Reuters
- © Jacquelyn Martin
The report of the head of the intelligence committee is mentioned at the very beginning of the letter to Jerry Nadler Trump. At the same time, the head of the legal committee quotes an excerpt from an unreleased Schiff report. In it, Trump is accused of “again” trying to use outside help to solve his political problems.
“Among other things, the report will include a description of“ President Trump’s many months of efforts aimed at allowing repeated interference in our elections in order to extract personal and political benefits to the detriment of our national interests, ”the document emphasizes.
Recall that earlier, congressmen made other accusations against Trump. So, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s request to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Burisma’s business related to the family of former Vice President Joe Biden could amount to “bribery.”
In her opinion, military assistance to Ukraine acted as a “bribe”, which Trump allegedly held, waiting until Ukraine announced the investigation he needed.
In addition, an appeal to voters appeared on one of the speaker’s websites asking them to sign a statement accusing Trump of spending taxpayers' money to bribe other states for their personal political purposes.
At the same time, as USA Today notes, although Ukraine is at the center of the investigation as part of impeachment, the Democrats want to "strengthen" the charges against the president by referring to other investigative materials not related to this topic.
So, earlier Congress tried to get documents that would testify to the fact that Trump made violations in the conduct of his business, including allegedly involved in financial fraud.
“We want to tell the most complete story about corruption and crime that the White House spreads. At the same time, if we really want to do this, then we need to accurately determine the charges against us, ”said Jamie Raskin, a Maryland congresswoman and member of the House’s Legal and Oversight Committees, to USA Today. - It is to this balance that we strive. The statement of events should be comprehensive, but if we are going to bring charges, then the wording of the points should be as accurate and concrete as possible. ”
The trial of the president
Despite the fact that the White House sharply criticizes the impeachment procedure and previously did not recommend many employees to testify, on November 18, Trump did not rule out that he himself could address the congress. On November 22, an American leader said he supported holding a hearing on impeachment in the Senate.
- A Trump impeachment rally
- Reuters
- © Theresa Keil
In addition, on November 26, the head of the White House emphasized that he would be glad if Minister of Energy Rick Perry, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting head of the White House apparatus Mick Mulvaney and several other officials “testified about the false impeachment procedure.” However, sources at the Politico portal claim that Trump does not intend to send his representatives to a meeting of the Legal Committee of the House of Representatives at least next week.
... love to have Mike Pompeo, Rick Perry, Mick Mulvaney and many others testify about the phony Impeachment Hoax. It is a Democrat Scam that is going nowhere but, future Presidents should in no way be compromised. What has happened to me should never happen to another President!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2019According to Yuri Rogulev, it is still difficult to predict whether Trump will agree to testify before Congress personally or through a lawyer.
On the one hand, the president criticizes what is happening in the House of Representatives as a biased political trial. On the other hand, Trump’s recent statements indicate that his supporters are ready for a counterattack in the Senate, which is controlled by the Republicans, and who are ready to interrogate with the partiality of the Democrats themselves if the House of Representatives votes for impeachment.
“The Republicans have now gone all-in, they even demand that these charges be formulated sooner so that these hearings can be transferred to the Senate,” says Yuri Rogulev. “They're getting ready to call their witnesses there, including Joe Biden and his son.”
In turn, American political scientist Mikhail Sinelnikov-Orishak noted in an interview with RT that there could be pros or cons for Trump in a speech to Congress in the framework of impeachment hearings from a political point of view. At the same time, the political scientist noted that the US president may refuse to testify against himself.
“In principle, I see a sufficient number of pluses for Trump to testify. He can give a good fight. But on the other hand, there is too much time before the next election to arrange such a performance. If it were the summer of 2020, I would have no doubt that Trump would speak and use this speech against his political opponents, said RT Sinelnikov-Orishak. - But now the election is still far away and all this will be forgotten. And the fact that the president made excuses to the congress, testified, and tried to catch him, will remain in his memory. Trump, of course, can make a statement, but I doubt that it is appropriate for him now. ”