Nov. 26 (UPI) — The House judiciary committee joined the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump on Tuesday, scheduling a hearing for next week.
The committee, chaired by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., scheduled the hearing for 10 a.m. EST Dec. 4. Lawmakers plan to explore the constitutional grounds for impeaching Trump.
The announcement comes one day after House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the three committees overseeing the impeachment inquiry — intelligence, foreign affairs, and oversight and reform — plan to submit a report on the probe to the judiciary panel after the Thanksgiving recess.
“Over the course of our inquiry, we have uncovered a months-long effort in which President Trump again sought foreign interference in our elections for his personal and political benefit at the expense of our national interest,” Schiff wrote in a letter to members of the House Democratic Caucus.
“As the evidence conclusively shows, President Trump conditioned official acts — a White House meeting desperately desired by the new Ukrainian president and critical U.S. military assistance — on Ukraine announcing sham, politically motivated investigations that would help President Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officially announced the impeachment inquiry Sept. 24, enveloping existing investigations into Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky under the umbrella of the probe. The investigations were prompted by a whistle-blower report about the call, accusing Trump of pressuring a foreign government to investigate a political rival — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
The committees are also attempting to determine whether Trump withheld $250 million in military aid and a one-on-one meeting between the two leaders in exchange for a Biden investigation. The Trump administration officially released the military aid in installments in September.
