Nancy Pelosi Names Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, And 5 Other Managers To Prosecute Trump Impeachment Trial
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has announced the seven Democratic congressmen and -women who will be the managers of President Donald Trump’s upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate, Fox News reports.
In a Wednesday morning tweet, Pelosi named the individuals who will serve as the managers during the trial, along with a photo and a brief biography of each, highlighting their legislative careers and accomplishments.
Those seven managers are: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who will serve as the lead manager; House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., whose committee drafted the articles of impeachment; House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo.; Val Demings, D-Fla.; Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas; and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.
For Lofgren, this is her third time being involved in an impeachment, as The Week reports. Back in the 1990s, during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, she was a member of the House Judiciary Committee. And back in the 1970s, when she was a law student, she helped draft the charges against former President Richard Nixon. Nixon was never actually impeached, however.
At the start of Clinton’s impeachment trial, the House sent 13 managers, as compared to the House’s current seven.
Today, I have the privilege of naming the Managers of the impeachment trial of the President. #DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/Y2613Ni3pC
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 15, 2020
What Is The Job Of An Impeachment Manager?
As USA Today explains, an impeachment trial in the Senate in many ways mirrors an ordinary civil or criminal trial. Instead of 12 jurors, however, there will be 100 — the full Senate’s voting members. Trump will have a defense team, as a defendant would in a civil or criminal trial. There will also be a judge, in this case Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. And there will be a prosecution team: the House managers Pelosi appointed.
The managers’ jobs will be to convince the jury of the merits of the case against the defendant — Trump. This will be done through making opening and closing statements, examining witnesses (if there are any), and presenting evidence.
What About President Trump’s Defense Team?
As of this writing, the makeup of Trump’s defense team and the role those team members will play has yet to be fully determined.
White House Counsel Pat Cipollone has been tapped to lead the defense team, a White House official told Fox News earlier this week. The unnamed official also said that Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow as well as Cipollone deputies Michael Purpura and Patrick Philbin would also serve on the president’s defense, although in what capacities those men will serve remains unclear.
