Pelosi taps Schiff and Nadler among House impeachment managers
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday that House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) would serve among the seven individuals tapped as the House's managers during the Senate's impeachment trial for President Trump.
Why it matters: The managers will present the House's case for impeachment to convince senators to convict the president for abusing his power and obstructing Congress, and ultimately remove him from office.
- Pelosi waited four weeks to name impeachment managers and deliver the articles to the Senate as part of her attempt to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to preemptively show her a Senate resolution laying out the terms for the trial, as well as an agreement on witnesses and document production at the outset of the trial.
- She's now ending the weeks-long standoff with neither.
- However, she said Wednesday that the additional evidence that has been unearthed in the weeks since the vote has helped convince some Senate Republicans of a need for witnesses: "Time has been our friend in all of this."
The full list of impeachment managers:
- Schiff
- Nadler
- Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.)
- Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)
- Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.)
- Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.)
- Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas)
The big picture: The two committee chairmen have been intimately involved with the impeachment inquiry from the beginning.
- Schiff, as head of House Intel, oversaw hours of testimony during the initial stages of the investigation into whether Trump withheld aid from Ukraine in an effort to pressure the country's president to announce an investigation into his political rival Joe Biden.
- Nadler, as head of House Judiciary, steered the constitutional debate on the two articles of impeachment against Trump.
What they're saying:
- Pelosi: "The House has demonstrated its courage and patriotism. Our managers reflect those values, and will now honor their responsibility to defend democracy."
- Schiff: "If McConnell makes this the first trial in history without witnesses, it will be exposed for what it is, and that is an effort to cover up for the president."
- Nadler: "The Senate is on trial as well as the president. Does the Senate conduct a trial according to the Constitution to vindicate the republic, or does the Senate participate in the president's crimes by covering them up?"
The other side: White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a statement following the announcement, saying Pelosi "focused on politics instead of the American people," and that she "failed and the naming of these managers does not change a single thing."
What's next: The House will vote this afternoon to appoint the managers and transmit the articles impeaching Trump to the Senate later today.
- After the vote, Pelosi will hold an Engrossment Ceremony photo op with the impeachment managers at 5pm EST, then they will travel through the Capitol to present the articles to the Secretary of the Senate.
- They'll deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate the old-fashioned way — on paper, and in person.
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