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House panel sets rules for impeachment debate

By Meg Wagner, Mike Hayes and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 2:37 AM ET, Wed December 18, 2019

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1:57 p.m. ET, December 17, 2019

Raskin: Trump "behaves like a king" and "tramples the rule of law"

Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland appearing on behalf of the House Judiciary Committee, said in his opening statement that President Trump "directed the wholesale categorical and indiscriminate obstruction" of the House's impeachment investigation.

Raskin continued:

"He did so by ordering a blockade of administration witnesses, by trying to muzzle and intimidate witnesses who did come forward, and by refusing to produce even a single subpoenaed document. In the history of the republic, no president other than this one has ever claimed and exercised the unilateral right and power to thwart and defeat a House presidential impeachment inquiry."

Raskin added that despite Trump's efforts to thwart the investigation "17 brave witnesses" came forward and testified "in the face of the President's threats."

Raskin called Trump's resistance to the subpoenas "unprecedented" and "dangerously unconstitutional."

"If accepted and normalized now, it will undermine perhaps for all time the congressional impeachment power its, which is the people's last instrument of constitutional self-defense against a sitting president who behaves like a king and tramples the rule of law," he said.

Watch:

11:38 a.m. ET, December 17, 2019

Top Rules Republican: "This is a day that we're going to disagree — and disagree very strongly."

Rep. Tom Cole, the ranking member on the House Rules Committee, said in his opening remarks, "This is a day that we're going to disagree — and disagree very strongly."

Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, went on to criticize the process to impeach Trump.

"Unfortunately, this entire process was tarnished further by the speed with which my democratic colleagues on the judiciary and intelligence committees have rushed to deliver their predetermined judgment," he said.

Watch more:

11:37 a.m. ET, December 17, 2019

Democrat: If Trump is allowed to do whatever he wants, the US moves closer to a dictatorship

Rep. Jim McGovern, the chair of the House Rules Committee, said that every day "we let President Trump act like the law doesn't apply to him" is a day that moves the US closer to a dictatorship.

McGovern, a Democrat, said the President has a habit of complimenting dictators — and suggested Trump might be "jealous that they can do whatever they want."

"It's no secret that President Trump has a penchant for cozying up to notorious dictators. He's complimented Vladimir Putin. Congratulated Rodrigo Duterte. Lauded President Erdogan. Fell in love with Kim Jong-Un. I can go on and on and on, and maybe the President is jealous that they can do whatever they want," he said.

McGovern continued:

"These dictators are the antithesis of what America stands for, and every day we let President Trump act like the law doesn't apply to him, we move a little closer to them.

McGovern said impeachment is a way to hold Trump accountable.

"Now it's up to us to decide whether the United States is still a nation where no one is above the law or whether America is allowed to become a land run by those who act more like kings or queens, as if the law doesn't apply to them," he said.

Watch the moment:

11:33 a.m. ET, December 17, 2019

NOW: House committee sets rules for impeachment debate

The House Rules Committee is now meeting to lay out the rules that will govern tomorrow's House floor debate on the articles of impeachment.

Committee chairman Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, kicked off the meeting.

"It's unfortunate that we have to be here today, but the actions of the President of the United States make that necessary. President Trump withheld congressionally approved aid to Ukraine, a partner under siege," he said.

"Congress has no other choice but to act with urgency," he added.

Watch:

11:33 a.m. ET, December 17, 2019

Schumer says Trump is "afraid" to let witnesses who might corroborate evidence testify

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, responded to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's objections to Schumer's request that four White House witnesses testify at an impeachment trial.

Schumer argued that "the House has built a very strong case against the President."

Schumer continued:

"Maybe that's why Leader McConnell doesn't seem to want witnesses — at least not agree to them now. Maybe that's why the President is afraid: because the House case is so strong that they don't want witnesses that might corroborate it."

Watch more:

11:42 a.m. ET, December 17, 2019

Schumer: "The American people are fair. They don't want a cover-up."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is now addressing Republicans' rejection of Democrats' request for witnesses at the looming impeachment trial.

“A fair trial is one that allows senators to get all the relevant facts and adjudicate the case impartially," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "There’s a grand tradition in America, speedy and fair trials. We want both."

Moments ago, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected calls from Schumer to allow at least four witnesses at an expected Senate impeachment trial. Schumer accused McConnell of prioritizing a "speedy" trial over a fair one.

“The leader seems obsessed with speedy and wants to throw fair out the window. To simply repeat the arguments that were made in the House and Senate when there are witnesses and documents that could shed light on what actually happened, why not have them?” he asked.

"The American people are fair. They don't want a cover-up. They don't want concealment," Schumer added.

Watch:

10:56 a.m. ET, December 17, 2019

SOON: House committee meets to debate impeachment rules

The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. ET to approve the parameters for tomorrow's floor debate on the articles of impeachment.

Remember: They're voting on the rules for the debate about impeachment — not impeachment itself.

Here's what we know about today's session:

Committee Chair Jim McGovern will make an opening statement, followed by one from Tom Cole, the ranking Republican.
After that, Judiciary Committee representatives are expected to deliver opening remarks.
The members of the Rules Committee — nine Democrats and four Republicans — will then be able to question the Judiciary Committee members. The committee typically does not enforce time limits for members to speak in hearings, so this is likely to be a long and contentious hearing.
At the end of the session, the committee will vote to approve the rules.

10:44 a.m. ET, December 17, 2019

McConnell: It's not the Senate's job to "search desperately for ways to get to guilty"

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, addressing Senate Democrats' request for witness testimony during the possible impeachment trial, said the Senate is not the place to investigate.

The House is the legislative body that is tasked with building the case against the President, he said.

"If they fail, they fail. It's not the Senate's job to leap into the breach and search desperately for ways to get to guilty. That would hardly be impartial justice," McConnell said.

He then referenced Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's proposal to hear from at least four witnesses at the trial. The House had moved ahead with the impeachment inquiry without some of the testimony, saying the process of waiting on court decisions could take months.

"The fact that my colleague is already desperate to sign up the Senate for new fact finding — which House Democrats themselves were too impatient to see through — well, that suggests something to me," McConnell said. "It suggests that even Democrats who do not like this President are beginning to realize how dramatically insufficient the house's rushed process has been."

McConnell continued:

"Well, look, I hope the House of Representatives sees that too. If House Democrats' case is this deficient, this thin, the answer is not for the judge and jury to cure it over here in the Senate. The answer is the house should not impeach on this basis in the first place."

10:43 a.m. ET, December 17, 2019

McConnell said he is working with the White House on impeachment. Now he's accusing Democrats of unfair coordination.

In a speech on the Senate floor moments ago, majority leader Mitch McConnell appeared to suggest Sen. Chuck Schumer was "coordinating" with others when the Democratic minority leader requested this week that four White House witnesses testify at Trump's impeachment trial.

"So why does the Democratic leader here in the Senate want to predetermine the House impeachment managers' witness request for them before the House has even impeached the president?" McConnell said. "Might he just might he be coordinating these questions with people outside the Senate?"

Keep in mind: McConnell himself said last week that he is "coordinating" with the White House on how to approach a potential impeachment trial. McConnell told Fox's Sean Hannity that there will "be no difference between the President's position and our position as to how to handle this." Schumer called these comments by McConnell "totally out of line."