Pelosi names lawmakers Schiff, Nadler as prosecutors for Trump trial

WASHINGTON — US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi names two House committee chairmen who led US President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry as prosecutors for Trump’s Senate trial.

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who led the probe, and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, whose committee approved the impeachment articles, will manage the prosecution.

“Today is an important day,” says Pelosi in a statement on Capitol Hill, flanked by the lawmakers. “This is about the Constitution of the United States.”’

Schiff and Nadler will lead the seven-member team that includes a diverse selection of lawmakers, particularly those with courtroom experience.

They include Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Sylvia Garcia of Texas, Val Demings of Florida and Jason Crow of Colorado.

Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House last month on charges of abuse of power over his pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden as Trump withheld aid from the country. He was also charged with obstructing Congress’s ensuing probe.

The House is set to vote later in the day to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial on whether the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are grounds for his removal. The managers will then walk the articles across the Capitol to the Senate.

— AP