House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) were not on the same page about how many “high crimes and misdemeanors” to charge President Trump with, Politico reported.
Pelosi, as well as House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) and several members of the Democratic caucus and House lawyers, wanted to keep the articles of impeachment laser focused on the Ukraine pressure scheme. But Nadler, alongside House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC), tried to make the case during a recent meeting for the inclusion of obstruction of justice, a conclusion laid out in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
Pelosi has reportedly long held the belief that Democrats should keep its focus narrow and not muddy up a process that’s already been criticized by the right. Over the weekend, the decision to exclude the Mueller findings was made final, according to Politico, leading to the articles announcement the world witnessed on Tuesday morning.
Democrats plan to rely heavily on evidence Mueller presented in his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election in a report that will be included with the articles of impeachment during the Judiciary Committee vote this week. The plan is to use Mueller findings to illustrate obstruction and abuse of power as patterns Trump has followed throughout his presidency.
