Washington - After weeks of delay, the
House of Representatives is expected on Wednesday to send
impeachment charges against President Donald Trump to the
Senate, clearing the way for that chamber to consider whether
Trump should be removed from office.
The weeks-long trial in the Senate is expected to ultimately
end in the president's acquittal. But it will focus attention on
Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political
rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, as the 2020 presidential
campaign begins in earnest.
Biden is one of 12 candidates vying for the Democratic
nomination, and the trial might still be under way when Iowa and
New Hampshire hold their first nominating contests in early
February.
None of the Senate's 53 Republicans have voiced support for
ousting Trump, a step that would require a two-thirds majority
in the 100-member chamber.
Though the ultimate outcome is not in doubt, the trial could
deliver some moments of drama.
Democrats are pressing to call Trump's former national
security adviser John Bolton as a witness, which could prove
damaging to Trump. Other witnesses in the impeachment inquiry
said Bolton was a vocal critic of the effort to pressure
Ukraine.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has resisted the
idea of calling witnesses at all, saying his chamber should only
consider evidence that has been dug up by the House. But other
Republicans and Trump himself have said they would like to call
witnesses of their own -- including Biden and his son, Hunter
Biden, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.
House Democrats indicated late on Wednesday they would
expand their case against Trump, saying they would include phone
records and other documents provided over the weekend by Florida
businessman Lev Parnas, who worked with Trump's personal
attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to pressure Ukraine.
Also on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will reveal
who will serve as prosecutors in the Senate trial. Likely
candidates include House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff, who
led the impeachment investigation, and House Judiciary Committee
Chairman Jerrold Nadler, whose panel crafted the impeachment
charges that were approved by the House in a largely party-line
vote in December.
Wednesday's vote in the House marks the end of an
unsuccessful gambit by Pelosi to pressure McConnell to commit to
calling the witnesses Democrats want.
Pelosi withheld the impeachment articles for four weeks,
drawing accusations from Republicans that she was undercutting
Democrats' arguments that they needed to move quickly to prevent
Trump from securing foreign help in the 2020 election. Democrats
say the delay helped them to unearth more evidence that
bolstered their case.