Jerry Nadler Says House Judiciary Committee Is Conducting ‘Impeachment Investigation’

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler (D-New York) has confirmed that his committee is investigating President Donald Trump’s possible obstruction of justice as a potential reason for impeachment.

The committee has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice in order to obtain materials that were redacted from Mueller’s report.

Nadler said that the House must acquire these documents in order to decide if they will need to use the powers granted to them by Article I of the Constitution, which includes the articles of impeachment. 

Some members of Congress have stated that the committee is deciding whether or not to recommend articles of impeachment. Others like Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) stated that it is just an “impeachment investigation.”

Nadler made it clear that with the investigation the committee is conducting can lead to the recommendation or could move to something else. It is seen as more of a step toward Impeachment than as the beginnings of impeachment procedure.

Nadler said that this decision came after Mueller’s testimony “removed all doubt” that the president obstructed justice by lying during the investigation.

After another four representatives came out in support of impeaching the president last week, nearly 100 House Democrats support impeachment.  

The impeding factor is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s opposition to impeachment as she has previously rejected Nadler’s call for Impeachment.

The committee has in turn taken this different approach because this process does not require any votes. The rules laid out by the Constitution in terms of impeachment are that the House of Representatives needs to vote in favor or impeachment, then the Senate must decide by two-thirds whether to convict or not. 

Out of the 45 U.S. Presidents only three have had impeachment proceedings: Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth president, Richard Nixon, the thirty-seventh president, and Bill Clinton the forty-second president. Of these three, only Nixon’s had a vote in the House for an impeachment inquiry. This committee found three articles for impeachment, but he resigned before any hearings could take place. During Clinton’s impeachment, it was Tom DeLay former House Majority Whip (R-Texas), who drove the effort.