The official resolution outlining Donald Trump ‘s impeachment probe was released Tuesday , and the Democrat-led House has been preparing a formal vote regarding the impeachment inquiry on Thursday. With the inquiry appearing to move ahead, Newsweek reported that two Democrats who voted for Bill Clinton ‘s impeachment back in 1998 have already attempted to make an impact on Senate Republicans who will be responsible for determining whether or not Trump should be removed from office.
Former Democratic representatives Paul McHale and Gene Taylor believe that Republicans must look past their partisanship when deciding on Trump’s impeachment.
“When a member of the House votes on impeachment, it is a very sobering responsibility, and it should be seen as something quite different than the ordinary business of the House,” said McHale, who was the only Democrat congressman to vote for all four articles of impeachment against Clinton.
According to McHale, Republicans should “vote your conscience” with an “eye toward history” as opposed to “short-term political consequences.”
Taylor was skeptical that Republicans would listen to anything he had to say, but still offered advice of his own.
“But if they’d listen, I’d say obey the law, and remember that the law is the same for your best friend and your worst enemy.”
Taylor voted for Clinton’s impeachment because he believed the then-president lied under oath and believed that the law applies to everyone.
When asked how they would vote in Trump’s impeachment probe, both McHale and Taylor suggested that, before making a decision, they would only vote for articles after all evidence connected to the current probe has been made available.
NEW: Catherine Croft will tell impeachment investigators that she heard Trump repeatedly call Ukraine a corrupt country and that she received an unexplained calls from lobbyist Robert Livingston urging the ouster of Ambassador Yovanovitch. Story w @AndrewDesiderio TK pic.twitter.com/1VuOcfTJQz
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 30, 2019
The impeachment inquiry into Trump stems from his call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Trump pressured Zelensky to dig up dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. His opponents believe he was using foreign aid to bribe Zelensky to do so.
The resolution released by House Democrats Tuesday revealed that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff would be holding open hearings for testimony by key witnesses of the controversial July 25 call. Per Bloomberg , the leaders of the Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, Oversight and Judiciary panels — which are heading the inquiry — claim the move is intended to give Americans insight into “the president’s misconduct.”
Although the resolution does not set a deadline for the investigation, the House reportedly plans to vote on articles of impeachment by Christmas. In addition, the resolution is not the beginning of formal impeachment proceedings, but Bloomberg reports that this does introduce the mechanism for drafting articles of impeachment.
