House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed who the impeachment managers will be as the Senate begins its impeachment trial against President Trump. She was proud to announce that those seven individuals are House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX).
Today, I have the privilege of naming the Managers of the impeachment trial of the President. #DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/Y2613Ni3pC
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 15, 2020
Pelosi said she has "great confidence in them in terms of impeaching the president and his removal," Pelosi said in her press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
One of the newly minted managers, Rep. Nadler, explained why the House "couldn't wait" for the next election to sort things out.
Rep. Nadler on impeachment: We couldn’t wait, because some people said well, 'let the election take care of it.' He’s trying to cheat in that election. So it is essential that we bring this impeachment to stop the president from trying to rig...from rigging the next election. pic.twitter.com/a0618WFriq
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 15, 2020
The Democrats are intent on bringing Trump to justice, she added, because he tried "to influence a foreign power for his own personal and political benefit" in his phone conversation with Ukraine President Zelensky.
The House passed the two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, in December. Pelosi held on to them for almost a month, waiting for a "fair" trial from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told McConnell he wanted four more witnesses and additional documents from the White House before the Senate proceeded on a trial. Pelosi said in order to make the "strongest prosecution," they need to bring those witnesses and documents forward. If McConnell doesn't allow that extra "evidence," Schiff said it will prove that the Republicans are involved in a White House "cover-up."
McConnell pushed back by noting that the Senate is not responsible for doing the House's job for them.
"If the existing case is strong, there's no need for the judge and the jury to reopen the investigation," McConnell said on the Senate floor this week.
We’ve reached a simple contradiction. The House case cannot be so robust that it was enough to rush into impeachment, and enough for Senate Democrats to start pre-judging guilt, but also so weak that they need the Senate to go fishing. These two stories cannot both be true. pic.twitter.com/r3LA9nRhlr
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 14, 2020
"If the existing case is weak," he added, "House Democrats should not have impeached in the first place."
The House will vote to officially name the managers later this afternoon.
This post has been updated with additional information.