Impeachment watch: Trump's impeachment day has arrived

The time has come: Donald Trump will be impeached by day’s end.

The House on Wednesday will take up the two articles of impeachment that the House Judiciary Committee drafted: one for abuse of power and a second for obstruction of justice. And both are expected to pass.

The House will begin debating the articles of impeachment on the House floor Wednesday morning.

The debate will last for at least six hours, with a final vote on the articles of impeachment predicted to take place sometime between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. EST, according to guidance from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

Of course, that timing could be pushed back, as Republicans attempt to force procedural moves that could delay the proceedings.

If the vote takes place when planned, Trump is scheduled to speak at a campaign rally in Michigan as the House votes on impeachment.

Trump is clearly upset that he is soon to carry the stain of impeachment on his record. On Tuesday, he sent a rambling, exclamation-point-filled diatribe to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about how angry he is that the House plans to impeach him. The letter is filled with lies, inaccuracies, and other hyperbolic claims, including that he is being treated worse than the witches in the Salem Witch Trials. (Until Trump is burned at the stake, that claim is obviously untrue.)

And at midnight, Trump was awake and tweeting about impeachment, including a claim he is “not worried” about being impeached.

Here’s what else is happening in impeachment news:

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he won’t call the witnesses Trump has blocked from testifying in a Senate impeachment trial. Meanwhile, McConnell is very upset that House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent him a letter demanding a fair trial, claiming it was not in good form. Of course, McConnell had already gone on Trump supported Sean Hannity’s Fox News program to say he is working in tandem with the White House to ensure Trump is acquitted — breaking the oath senators take to be impartial jurors in impeachment trials.

• Meanwhile, Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been on a media tour admitting to the crimes Democrats allege Trump committed.

• Federal prosecutors on Tuesday alleged that Lev Parnas, the Giuliani aide who was helping Giuliani and Trump secure the investigation into the Bidens that Trump wanted, was paid $1 million by an indicted Ukrainian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Come back tomorrow for more impeachment news.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.