Is the long wait for the impeachment process to continue and wrap up over? Maybe. Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s prepared to send the two House articles of impeachment to the Senate this week. In a letter to House colleagues, Pelosi said she has instructed Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to prepare a resolution to appoint House managers for the Senate impeachment trial.
After that resolution is passed, the articles of impeachment would be formally sent to the Senate. That’s expected to happen on Tuesday or Wednesday – and the House managers will prosecute the case against President Trump in the Senate.
As we’ve been telling you, the Democratic-led House approved two articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump before Christmas. Pelosi has been resistant to sending the articles to the Senate over concerns about how the trial will be handled and whether it will be fair.
Democrats are pushing hard for key witnesses and documents that have been blocked by the White House. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has insisted that the House will not dictate how the Senate trial unfolds – and has been clear that he’s working “in total coordination” with the White House with reference to the trial. Something that leaves the notion of impartiality scarce.
Meanwhile, the President has taken to Twitter to assail the notion of ANY trial. "Many believe that by the Senate giving credence to a trial based on the no evidence, no crime, read the transcripts, 'no pressure' Impeachment Hoax,” he writes. “Rather than an outright dismissal, it gives the partisan Democrat Witch Hunt credibility that it otherwise does not have. I agree!"
For the record, President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial had 41 witnesses, while President Bill Clinton’s only had three. In all, 19 people have been impeached by the House, while 15 of those people have had a Senate trial – all of them had witnesses.