WASHINGTON — Since its creation in 1813, the House Judiciary Committee has served as the backdrop to debates over the most contentious issues in American history, including a woman’s right to vote, immigration and civil rights. It has either held or recommended impeachment proceedings against three presidents: Andrew Johnson, Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton.
Now President Trump is on that list.
On Wednesday, the judiciary panel — 24 Democrats and 17 Republicans — is to open the second phase of Congress’s inquiry into Mr. Trump’s effort to enlist Ukraine to dig up damaging information on his political rivals. Four constitutional scholars will testify on what constitutes an impeachable offense, a prelude to the panel’s consideration of articles of impeachment.
Here are some key committee members to watch:
Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York and chairman of the committee
The son of a Jewish chicken farmer, Mr. Nadler has a long and not happy history with the president. The two fought bitterly in the 1980s over a real estate development Mr. Trump sought to build on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Meticulous and thorough — he is never seen without a stack of briefing papers — Mr. Nadler, 72, faded from view when Representative Adam B. Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, took the reins over the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. Now it’s Mr. Nadler’s turn.
Doug Collins, Republican of Georgia, the ranking member
Fast-talking, ambitious and a fierce defender of the president in the Capitol and on Fox News, Mr. Collins, 53, has lately been in the news over a dispute between Mr. Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia over who should fill the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Johnny Isakson, who is retiring early. Mr. Trump wanted Mr. Kemp to appoint Mr. Collins, figuring Mr. Collins would be an attack dog during a Senate impeachment trial. Mr. Kemp appointed someone else, but Mr. Collins may seek the seat anyway.
Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California
Ms. Lofgren has the distinction as the only committee member present for all three of the modern impeachment proceedings. In 1974, when Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment, she was a law student working on the staff of a California congressman who served on the judiciary panel. She joined the committee as a member after she was elected to Congress in 1994. Her politics are more moderate than Mr. Nadler’s. The two ran against each other for the panel leadership when Democrats took the House majority this year. Mr. Nadler, who has seniority, won.
Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio
Americans who tuned into the recent Intelligence Committee impeachment hearings are already familiar with Mr. Jordan, another fierce Trump defender whose pugnacious manner and sartorial choices — shirt and tie but never a jacket — have drawn derision among liberals. A scrappy former wrestler and firebrand founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, Mr. Jordan, 55, is embroiled in controversy at home over allegations that as a young assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University in the late 1980s and 1990s, he ignored reports that a doctor was sexually molesting team members.
Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York
The smooth-talking Mr. Jeffries, a corporate lawyer before he entered politics, is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, which means he is responsible for developing and articulating the party’s message. At 49, he is widely viewed as a rising star among the next generation of leaders whose ascent has been blocked by the two septuagenarians and one octogenarian who now hold the top three slots: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 79, Representative Steny H. Hoyer, 80, the House majority leader, and Representative James E. Clyburn, 79, the Democratic whip.
John Ratcliffe, Republican of Texas
Mr. Ratcliffe, who also holds a spot on the Intelligence Committee, was briefly Mr. Trump’s pick to succeed Dan Coats as the director of national intelligence after Mr. Coats announced his resignation in late July. But Mr. Trump abruptly dropped the plan after questions from both Democrats and Republicans about Mr. Ratcliffe’s qualifications and concerns over whether he had exaggerated his résumé. Even some Republicans said he was too partisan for the job.
Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland
Mr. Raskin, 56, who was a state legislator and full-time constitutional law professor at American University in Washington before his election to Congress in 2016, has established himself as a strong liberal voice on the committee. He represents a suburban Maryland district, just over the border from Washington, filled with the power lawyers and journalists Mr. Trump often derides.
Steve Chabot, Republican of Ohio
Mr. Chabot, 66, has experience as one of the Republican House managers of the impeachment of Mr. Clinton. He is one of two managers, along with Representative Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, who remain on the judiciary panel. The two recently wrote an opinion article in The Wall Street Journal titled “The Clinton Impeachment Was Fair.” But he is the rare Judiciary Committee member in a swing district, and could be someone to watch for evidence of any breaks in Republicans unity.
Val B. Demings, Democrat of Florida
Ms. Demings, 62, has an only-in-America story. She grew up poor in Florida, where her father worked in the orange groves and her mother was a housekeeper. She attended segregated schools and went on to become the first female chief of the Orlando Police Department, a position she held from 2007 until her retirement in 2011, after serving on the force for 27 years. The next year, she narrowly lost a race for the House, but won in 2014.
Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida
Mr. Gaetz, a conservative with a flair for theatrics, knows how to grab the spotlight. When the Intelligence Committee began taking closed-door depositions at the outset of the impeachment inquiry, Mr. Gaetz tried to force his way in — prompting a fiery standoff with Mr. Schiff, who insisted he was not entitled to be there. Mr. Gaetz responded by holding a news conference to protest the closed-door depositions, and led about two dozen Republicans who stormed the secure briefing room where they were taking place, bringing the proceedings to a halt for hours.
Norman Eisen, the Democrats’ lawyer
Mr. Eisen, who will conduct some of the questioning for Democrats, made his name in Washington in the early 2000s as a founder of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a good governance group. He later worked as an ethics counsel to his Harvard Law School classmate, President Barack Obama, and eventually became Mr. Obama’s ambassador to the Czech Republic. His mother, a Czech Holocaust survivor had been deported to Auschwitz by the Nazis, who during World War II occupied the Prague estate that later became the ambassador’s residence. Mr. Eisen, who lived there, recently wrote a book about the house, “The Last Palace.”
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December 04, 2019 at 09:30PM
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