House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Democrat-New York, listens to testimony from legal scholars during a hearing on the constitutional grounds for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019. (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite / AP)
WASHINGTON 鈥� Previewing potential articles of impeachment, the House Democrats on Saturday issued a lengthy report drawing on history and the Founding Fathers to lay out the legal argument over the case against President Donald Trump鈥檚 actions toward Ukraine.
The findings from the House Judiciary Committee do not spell out the formal charges against the president, which are being drafted ahead of votes, possibly as soon as next week.
Instead, the report refutes Trump鈥檚 criticism of the impeachment proceedings, arguing that the Constitution created impeachment as a 鈥渟afety valve鈥� so Americans would not have to wait for the next election to remove a president.
It refers to the writings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and others to link Trump鈥檚 actions in his July phone call with Ukraine鈥檚 president seeking political investigations of his rivals to the kind of behavior that would 鈥渉orrify鈥� the framers.
鈥淲here the President uses his foreign affairs power in ways that betray the national interest for his own benefit, or harm national security for equally corrupt reasons, he is subject to impeachment by the House,鈥� the Democrats wrote. 鈥淚ndeed, foreign interference in the American political system was among the gravest dangers feared by the Founders of our Nation and the Framers of our Constitution.鈥�
Democrats are working through the weekend as articles are being drafted and committee members are preparing for a hearing Monday.
Democrats say Trump abused his power in the July 25 phone call when he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a favor and engaged in bribery by withholding nearly $400 million in military aide that Ukraine depends on to counter Russian aggression.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it鈥檚 part of a troubling pattern of behavior from Trump that benefits Russia and not the U.S.
Trump has insisted he did nothing wrong. 鈥淲itch Hunt!鈥� the president tweeted Saturday morning.
The articles of impeachment are likely to encompass two major themes 鈥� abuse of office and obstruction 鈥� as Democrats strive to reach the Constitution鈥檚 bar of 鈥渢reason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.鈥欌��
In releasing his report Saturday, Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the president鈥檚 actions are the framers鈥� 鈥渨orst nightmare.鈥�
鈥淧resident Trump abused his power, betrayed our national security, and corrupted our elections, all for personal gain. The Constitution details only one remedy for this misconduct: impeachment,鈥� Nadler said in a statement. 鈥淭he safety and security of our nation, our democracy, and future generations hang in the balance if we do not address this misconduct. In America, no one is above the law, not even the President.鈥�
The report released Saturday is an update of similar reports issued during the Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton impeachments and lays out the justification for articles under consideration, including abuse of power, bribery and obstruction.
It does not lay out the facts of the Ukraine case, but it hints at potential articles of impeachment and explains the thinking behind Democrats鈥� decision to draft them.
Without frequently mentioning Trump, it alludes to his requests that Ukraine investigate Democrats, a move he believed would benefit him politically, by saying a president who 鈥減erverts his role as chief diplomat to serve private rather than public ends鈥� has unquestionably engaged in the high crimes and misdemeanors laid out in the Constitution. That is true 鈥渆specially鈥� if he invited rather than opposed foreign interference, the report says.
The report examines treason, bribery, serious abuse of power, betrayal of the national interest through foreign entanglements and corruption of office and elections. Democrats have been focused on an overall abuse of power article, with the possibility of breaking out a separate, related article on bribery. They are also expected to draft at least one article on obstruction of Congress or obstruction of justice.
In laying out the grounds for impeachable offenses, the report directly refutes several of the president鈥檚 claims in a section called 鈥渇allacies about impeachment,鈥� including that the inquiry is based on secondhand evidence, that a president can do what he wants to do and that Democrats鈥� motives are corrupt.
鈥淭he President鈥檚 honesty in an impeachment inquiry, or his lack thereof, can thus shed light on the underlying issue,鈥� the report says.
In pushing ahead with the impeachment inquiry, Democrats are bringing the focus back to Russia.
Pelosi is connecting the dots 鈥� 鈥渁ll roads lead to Putin,鈥� she says 鈥� and making the argument that Trump鈥檚 pressure campaign on Ukraine was not an isolated incident but part of a troubling bond with the Russian president reaching back to special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 findings on the 2016 election interference.
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 about Ukraine,鈥� she explained a day earlier. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about Russia. Who benefited by our withholding of that military assistance? Russia.鈥�
It鈥檚 an attempt to explain why Americans should care that Trump pushed Ukraine to investigate rival Joe Biden while withholding the military aid that Congress had approved.
At the same time, by tracing the arc of Trump鈥檚 behavior from the 2016 campaign to the present, it stitches it all together. And that helps the speaker balance her left-flank liberals, who want more charges brought against Trump, including from Mueller鈥檚 report, and centrist Democrats who prefer to keep the argument more narrowly focused on Ukraine.
Pelosi and her team are trying to convey a message that impeachment is indeed about Ukraine, but also about a pattern of behavior that could stoke renewed concern about his attitude toward Russia ahead of the 2020 election.
Trump pushed back on the Democrats鈥� message. 鈥淭he people see that it鈥檚 just a continuation of this three-year witch hunt,鈥� he told reporters as he left the White House on a trip to Florida.
Late Friday, White House counsel Pat Cipollone informed the Judiciary Committee that the administration would not be participating in upcoming hearings, decrying the proceedings as 鈥渃ompletely baseless.鈥�
And Trump鈥檚 campaign announced new rallies taking the case directly to voters 鈥� as well as a new email fundraising pitch that claims the Democrats have 鈥済one absolutely insane.鈥�
鈥淭he Democrats have NO impeachment case and are demeaning our great Country at YOUR expense,鈥� Trump wrote in the email to supporters. 鈥淚t鈥檚 US against THEM.鈥�
Impeachment articles could include obstruction of Congress, as the White House ordered officials not to comply with House subpoenas for testimony or documents in the inquiry. They could also include obstruction of justice, based on Mueller鈥檚 report on the original Trump-Russia investigation.
There is still robust internal debate among House Democrats over how many articles to write and how much to include 鈥� and particularly whether there should be specific mention of Mueller鈥檚 findings from his two-year investigation into Trump鈥檚 possible role in Russia鈥檚 2016 election interference.
The special counsel could not determine that Trump鈥檚 campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia. However, Mueller said he could not exonerate Trump of obstructing justice in the probe and left it for Congress to determine.
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