Impeachment watch: Democrats vow to not 'take any sh*t' from GOP at hearing

The next phase of impeachment begins Wednesday, when the House Judiciary Committee will hold its first public hearing to determine what articles of impeachment, if any, Donald Trump will face.

And Democrats on the committee are preparing for Republicans to behave like clowns, Politico reported, with Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler telling the Democratic caucus that he is “not going to take any shit” from the GOP lawmakers at the hearing.

The House Judiciary Committee is far larger than the House Intelligence Committee, where the hearings had been taking place.

And a number of the GOP lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee are some of the biggest Trump defenders on Capitol Hill who are known to pull childish stunts.

The ranking Republican on the committee is Doug Collins, the Georgia lawmaker who Trump likes so much he tried to force the state’s Republican governor to appoint him to an open Senate seat. The governor refused.

Also on the committee is Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican who led the GOP stunt to storm a secure area of the Capitol back in October — causing a national security incident.

Gaetz, who has said protecting Trump is his No. 1 goal in Congress, also attempted to attend earlier closed-door impeachment proceedings that he was not allowed to attend.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican known for his offensive commentary as well as his bizarre rants on the House floor that reporters have dubbed “Gohmert Hour,” also sits on the panel, along with Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who Republicans specifically moved to the Intelligence Committee to defend Trump, and Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, who led a failed effort to censure Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff.

Expect lawmakers like these to try to disrupt the hearing, push baseless conspiracy theories, and distort the facts to try and defend Trump.

Here’s what else is happening in impeachment news:

• The House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday voted to approve a report saying that Trump abused the office of the presidency and obstructed justice.

• California Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, was implicated in the Intelligence Committee report. The panel uncovered phone records that show Nunes spoke to Rudy Giuliani and indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas — two men who are at the center of the Ukrainian scandal that threatens Trump’s presidency. Nunes went on Fox News host to speak with Trump sycophant Sean Hannity Tuesday night to try to defend himself. However, he was unable to say why he spoke to both Giuliani and Parnas.

• As a number of GOP lawmakers falsely claim that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election in an effort to defend Trump from impeachment, other Republicans are speaking out against the conspiracy theory. Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina both said it was Russia, not Ukraine, that nefariously meddled in the election.

Come back tomorrow for more impeachment news.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.