{"id":199893,"date":"2019-12-20T22:36:21","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T22:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/top-dems-in-contention-to-prosecute-trump-impeachment-case-if-it-goes-to-trial.html"},"modified":"2019-12-20T22:36:21","modified_gmt":"2019-12-20T22:36:21","slug":"top-dems-in-contention-to-prosecute-trump-impeachment-case-if-it-goes-to-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/top-dems-in-contention-to-prosecute-trump-impeachment-case-if-it-goes-to-trial.html","title":{"rendered":"Top Dems in contention to prosecute Trump impeachment case \u2013 if it goes to trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CongressVideo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Congress leaves for Christmas break without sending articles of impeachment to the Senate<\/a><\/h4>\n

Pelosi thanks Democrats for ‘moral courage.’ Fox News correspondent Todd Piro reports.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the other 2020 horse race<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 who will make it on House Democrats’ star legal team to prosecute the case against President Trump, presuming the newly adopted articles of impeachment<\/a> go to a Senate trial?<\/p>\n

The timetable for all of this remains up in the air, with Congress on recess and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sitting on the two articles alleging abuse of power and obstruction of Congress\u00a0in a controversial bid to extract favorable terms from the Senate.<\/p>\n

But bipartisan sources told Fox News this week that several names have been floated to be Democrats’ impeachment “managers” if and when the two chambers can resolve what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell now\u00a0calls an impasse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Rep.Video<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

DEMS’ OWN WITNESS SAYS TRUMP NOT TRULY IMPEACHED UNLESS ARTICLES GO TO SENATE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Likely candidates include House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who led much of the impeachment inquiry out of his committee with dramatic hearings to develop the case against the president; House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., whose panel drafted the articles of impeachment; House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a constitutional lawyer.<\/p>\n

\"GOPVideo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Other possible candidates include Democrats who were more outspoken during the impeachment hearings like Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. Sources told Fox News that other names being floated include Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.;\u00a0Val Demings, D-Fla., who served as the first female police chief in Orlando; and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who was involved in the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton and was a staffer during the congressional investigation into former President Richard Nixon.<\/p>\n

During Clinton\u2019s impeachment in 1999, there were 13 House impeachment managers. A source familiar with the planning told Fox News that Pelosi is expected to appoint fewer than that.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, it is unclear who could serve on President Trump\u2019s defense team. According to a White House official familiar with impeachment planning, there has not yet been a decision on whether White House Counsel Pat Cipollone would run the defense of the president. Congressional sources have also suggested that top House Republicans could aid in the president\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n

Still, Cipollone and White House Legislative Affairs Director Eric Ueland were spotted Friday on Capitol Hill doing a walk-through for a potential Senate trial.<\/p>\n

But Pelosi, D-Calif., has not yet transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate, indicating she wants\u00a0reassurances that the Senate would hold a fair trial, likely involving certain Democrat-sought witnesses, before sending over the charges.<\/p>\n

MCCONNELL: ‘IMPASSE’ OVER IMPEACHMENT TRIAL, AS DEMS PART FROM PRECEDENT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Ueland on Friday took a swipe at Pelosi for the process delay. \u201cWe believe that if this issue was so important to the speaker and the House Democrats … it is beyond passing strange that now they\u2019re sitting on these articles here during the Christmas holidays. Either it\u2019s important and urgent or it\u2019s not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McConnell, R-Ky., speaking on the floor Thursday, seemed\u00a0baffled at Pelosi\u2019s move to withhold the articles, arguing that the House speaker doesn\u2019t have the leverage she thinks she does.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome House Democrats imply they are withholding the articles for some kind of leverage,\u201d McConnell said. \u201cI admit, I\u2019m not sure what leverage there is in refraining from sending us something we do not want. Alas, if they can figure that out, they can explain.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cFollowing weeks of pronouncements about the urgency of the situation, urgent situation, the prosecutors appear to have developed cold feet. Democrat prosecution seems to have gotten cold feet and be unsure about whether they want to proceed to the trial.\u00a0Like I said, a very unusual spectacle, and in my view, certainly not one that reflects well on the House.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite McConnell saying the Senate doesn\u2019t actually \u201cwant\u201d to receive the articles, President Trump has called for an immediate trial\u00a0and is evidently looking for his day in court to be acquitted for the alleged crimes surrounding his efforts to pressure Ukraine\u00a0to launch politically advantageous investigations. The request came after the administration had withheld millions in military aid to Ukraine, though\u00a0Trump has denied any quid pro quo was at play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got Impeached last night without one Republican vote being cast\u00a0with the Do Nothing Dems on their continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American history,\u201d\u00a0Trump<\/a>\u00a0tweeted Thursday. \u201cNow the Do Nothing Party want to Do Nothing with the Articles not deliver them to the Senate, but it\u2019s the Senate\u2019s call!\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox News’ John Roberts and Sally Persons contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feeds.foxnews.com\/~r\/foxnews\/politics\/~3\/U7V1jHWR1kM\/top-dems-in-contention-to-prosecute-trump-impeachment-case-if-it-goes-to-trial<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Video Congress leaves for Christmas break without sending articles of impeachment to the Senate Pelosi thanks Democrats for ‘moral courage.’ Fox News correspondent Todd Piro reports. It\u2019s the other 2020 horse race\u00a0\u2014 who will make it on House Democrats’ star legal team to prosecute the case against President Trump, presuming the newly adopted articles of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-199893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}