US House impeachment report coming ahead of landmark hearing

WASHINGTON — The US House of Representatives impeachment report on US President Donald Trump will be unveiled today behind closed doors for key lawmakers as Democrats push ahead with the inquiry despite the White House’s declaration it will not participate in the first Judiciary Committee hearing.

The Democratic majority on the House Intelligence Committee says the report, compiled after weeks of testimony, will speak for itself in laying out what Chairman Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, has called the evidence of “wrongdoing and misconduct” by the Republican president over his actions toward Ukraine. It is being made available for committee members to review ahead of a vote Tuesday to send it to the Judiciary Committee for Wednesday’s landmark hearing.

Late Sunday, White House counsel Pat Cipollone denounced the “baseless and highly partisan inquiry.” In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat from New York, he also declined the invitation for the president’s counsel to appear before his panel Wednesday.

Cipollone, in continuing the West Wing’s attack on the House process, said the proceeding “violates all past historical precedent, basic due process rights, and fundamental fairness.” Trump himself was scheduled to attend a summit with NATO allies outside London on Wednesday.

— AP