It's Wednesday, Dec. 4, 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."
Trump impeachment case enters historic next phase
The investigation into President Donald Trump enters a historic next phase on Wednesday as the House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on the constitutional grounds for drafting articles of impeachment. The process of drawing up any articles, now becoming increasingly likely, could begin shortly after members question legal and constitutional experts about what the Constitution requires.
Expected to be highly contentious, the hearing comes a day after the House Intelligence Committee, led by Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff, published its report on its investigation into alleged misconduct by the president in regards to Ukraine.
Next critical phase in the impeachment inquiry starts today in the House Judiciary Committee—will be watching for fireworks among the members on that committee. Breaking it all down today on @GMA ahead of our coverage of the hearing on @ABC later this morning. pic.twitter.com/Kzc3EsRn0o
— GeorgeStephanopoulos (@GStephanopoulos) December 4, 2019
My take: The next critical phase of the impeachment inquiry starts today in the House Judiciary Committee. Those hearings that are basically going to be to write the charges based on the evidence compiled by the House Intelligence Committee. Sent over to the Judiciary Committee last night, that 320-page report from [House Intelligence Committee Chairman] Adam Schiff outlining mostly what we knew about the scheme, Adam Schiff calls it, by the president to pressure Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden and the Democrats and what he calls “overwhelming evidence” of obstruction.
As well, what was intriguing about the report last night was that new evidence of phone calls they had, including Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas, of course who has been indicted as an associate of Rudy Giuliani, and what looks like officials in the OMB [Office of Management and Budget], probably Mick Mulvaney, and the president himself.
One of the big questions is what’s going to happen with that new evidence, also how fiery the scene in the House Judiciary Committee is going to be today. You’ve got a lot of combative members on that committee. It’s still looking like the House is heading towards having this all wrapped up by Christmas but with new evidence coming in, no question there’s a chance that could extend into January.
Tune into "Good Morning America" from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. EST, for full reporting on today's biggest stories.
