Last week, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrapped up his panel’s impeachment hearings, and he is now preparing to hand things over to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who will oversee the next stage in the process.
Unsurprisingly, Schiff did not go quietly. As his time drew to a close on the last day of hearings, he launched into a twenty minute rant during which he insisted that “there is nothing more dangerous than an unethical president who believes they are above the law.”
Schiff stresses urgency
Apparently not satisfied with that performance, Schiff followed up with a letter to his colleagues stating, “The president has accepted or enlisted foreign nations to interfere in our upcoming elections, including the next one.”
“This,” he continued, “is an urgent matter that cannot wait if we are to protect the nation’s security and the integrity of our elections.”
Impeachment proceedings are scheduled to start up again in the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 4.
Nadler takes the reins
On Monday, Nadler sent a letter of his own to the White House in which the chairman said he was “committed to ensuring a fair and informative process,” apparently attempting to sound as though he was doing Trump a favor.
“To that end, I remind you that participation by the President or his counsel has been described by the Committee in past inquires as ‘not a right but a privilege or a courtesy which is being extended to the President’s counsel,'” Nadler warned.
He also threatened that “if you continue to refuse to make witness and documents available to the committee of jurisdiction, under H. Res. 660, ‘the chair shall have the discretion to impose appropriate remedies.'”
However, new polling suggests that voters are growing less supportive of impeachment, and by next year they may be ready to impose some remedies of their own at the ballot box.
Support for impeachment fades
An Emerson poll published last Thursday found that “support for impeachment has flipped since October from 48% support with 44% opposing to now 45% opposed and 43% in support.”
What’s more, this change was most pronounced among Independents — always a crucial voting block.
“The biggest swing is among Independents, who oppose impeachment now 49% to 34%, which is a reversal from October where they supported impeachment 48% to 39%,” according to Emerson.
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