On Tuesday, the House Intelligence Committee released the report of its impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and Ukraine, finding, in the words of committee chairman Adam Schiff, that “the president placed his own personal and political interests above the national interests of the United States, sought to undermine the integrity of the US presidential election process, and endangered US national security.”
The 300-page document is based on the testimony of over a dozen witnesses, numerous subpoenaed documents, and the president’s tweets, among other material. It follows a two-part format that has been all the rage in DC lately: The first section covers the episodes of misconduct at the heart of the House inquiry, while the second lays out the president’s various attempts to obstruct said investigation. Republican members of the committee released a report of their own on Monday, which argued, in short and to no one’s surprise, that there was no misconduct at all.
The Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report was approved in a committee vote along party lines Tuesday night. Now the impeachment proceedings head to the House Judiciary Committee, which is responsible for drafting any articles of impeachment and recommending them to the full House. The committee is hosting its first impeachment inquiry hearing on Wednesday, December 4.
The issue of the day is to establish the constitutional grounds for impeachment, with four expert witnesses—three selected by Democrats, one by Republicans—scheduled to offer their perspectives on the matter. They are Noah Feldman, of Harvard Law School; Pamela S. Karlan, of Stanford Law School; Michael Gerhardt, of the University of North Carolina School of Law; and Jonathan Turley, of the George Washington University Law School. That’s right, all four witnesses are law professors. You have been warned.
President Trump and his lawyer can also participate in this next phase of the impeachment inquiry, per the House's resolution. So far, the president and White House counsel Pat Cipollone have refused to do so.
The hearing will be livestreamed by the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday beginning at 10 am Eastern time, and you can watch it right here.
We’ll also have a live Reuters feed on our Facebook page and on Twitter @WIRED. Jurisprudence Twitter is going to be lit.
- Everything you need to know about genetic testing
- The strange life and mysterious death of a virtuoso coder
- Alphabet's dream of an “Everyday Robot” is just out of reach
- Wish List 2019: 52 amazing gifts you'll want to keep for yourself
- How to lock down your health and fitness data
- 👁 A safer way to protect your data; plus, the latest news on AI
- 🏃🏽♀️ Want the best tools to get healthy? Check out our Gear team’s picks for the best fitness trackers, running gear (including shoes and socks), and best headphones.
