House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler wants to get the impeachment ball rolling. So much so that he hinted on "Meet the Press" on Sunday that Congress may introduce their articles of impeachment against President Trump as early as this week.
WATCH: @RepJerryNadler: “We’ll bring articles of impeachment presumably before the committee at some point later in the week.” #MTP #IfItsSunday pic.twitter.com/iq2yG3OBOI
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) December 8, 2019
Nadler was unsure, however, how many articles he and his colleagues plan to draw.
"I'm not ready to decide that," he said. "It's not just my decision obviously."
But, he believes Trump has provided them plenty of nefarious activities to sift through, courtesy of his phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky in July. During their conversation, Trump asked Zelensky to investigate the Bidens' ties to a corrupt gas company. The White House argued Trump was trying to root out corruption. Democrats charge he was just trying to hurt his political opponent.
"There is overwhelming evidence - uncontested by the Republicans - that the president put himself above the country," Nadler said. "The president sought foreign assistance in elections, sought to cover it up, completely defied participation in the congressional investigation, in order to hide his role."
But Nadler's attempt to make that case to the public backfired last week. The Democrats presented three liberal law professors to the Judiciary Committee who were dripping with bias against the president. All of them said without hesitation Trump had obstructed justice. The fourth professor on the witness stand, Jonathan Turley, upended their narrative by noting this was all based on "presumption." Not proof.
Turley also warned Congress that if they really want to impeach the president, they may want to slow down. In a matter as pressing as this, "fast is not good."
GOP senators like Lindsey Graham called the Democrats' impeachment inquiry illegitimate.
"You can't get a parking ticket based on an anonymous allegation," he reasoned.
The House Judiciary Committee is holding its second public impeachment inquiry hearing on Monday morning.