Trump Lawyers Will Skip Impeachment Hearing

White House complains about process
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 2, 2019 6:36 AM CST
Trump, Lawyers Won't Be at Impeachment Hearing
The Air Force One carrying President Trump lands at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The impeachment process shifts to the House Judiciary Committee this week—but President Trump and his lawyers will not be taking part. In a letter to the committee released Sunday evening, White House counsel Pat Cipollone said the Wednesday hearing would not "provide the president with any semblance of a fair process." Cipollone listed numerous complaints about the hearing, where legal experts will debate whether Trump's alleged actions are impeachable offenses, the New York Times reports. The committee, chaired by Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler, is expected to hear from four constitutional scholars, three chosen by Democrats and one by Republicans, reports the Washington Post.

Nadler had given Trump until 6pm Sunday to say whether he or White House lawyers would be at the hearing. In his five-page letter, Cipollone complained that the committee still hadn't named its witnesses for what he called an "after-the-fact constitutional law seminar." Cipollone also noted that the hearing been scheduled, "no doubt purposely," while Trump will be in London at a meeting of NATO leaders. The Post reports that GOP lawmakers are split on how much Trump and his lawyers should participate in the process, which they predict will be a lot feistier this week. "It’s a bunch of brawlers sometimes on the Judiciary Committee, so it should get pretty hot and under the collar as we go along," Rep. Andy Biggs said Sunday. (More Trump impeachment stories.)

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