It's Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. Here is the biggest story I'm following this morning. I’ll be breaking it all down with our team starting at 7 a.m. EST, on "Good Morning America."
What is the impact of the House Judiciary Committee's 1st impeachment hearing?
The impeachment inquiry moved to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday with a panel of constitutional scholars tackling the million dollar question in the debate: Do President Donald Trump's actions warrant impeachment under the Constitution? Three of the witnesses were lawyers handpicked by the Democratic majority, while the lone Republican-picked witness was a professor at the George Washington University Law School.
Among the three Democratic-picked lawyers, there was no doubt: Trump, they testified, abused his power in office by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rival. The GOP-picked lawyer had a somewhat surprising argument against impeachment, testifying that Democrats were setting a dangerous precedent that could one day be used to smear one of their own.
Looking ahead to some potential breaking news from Speaker Nancy Pelosi – who will be making an announcement at 9am on the status of the Impeachment inquiry. Here’s what I’ll be watching for today: pic.twitter.com/LXbpEL7Sda
— GeorgeStephanopoulos (@GStephanopoulos) December 5, 2019
My take: [ABC News legal analyst] Kate Shaw is going to come in and analyze the hearing yesterday. [ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent] Mary Bruce on Capitol Hill with all the latest. Big day ahead in impeachment.
What will Nancy Pelosi say?
All eyes will be on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she delivers a statement at 9 a.m. EST at the U.S. Capitol. Pelosi's office says she will "deliver a statement on the status of the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry."
My take: It sure looks like we're going to have some big breaking news from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this morning. Overnight announcing a 9 a.m. press conference with an announcement on the status of the impeachment inquiry. All kinds of speculation over what that could be. Will it deal with the timeline? Has she firmly decided now that the House should draft articles of impeachment? Will she talk about the scope of those articles and the timing of when a vote would be?
Tune into "Good Morning America" from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. EST, for full reporting on today's biggest stories.
