The House Judiciary Committee will hold its first impeachment hearing next week and has informed President Donald Trump of his rights in the process in a letter.
The first House Judiciary Committee hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 4, will consist of legal experts on the impeachment process. The announcement of the hearing comes after the House Intelligence Committee held fact-finding hearings about Trump’s alleged plot to withhold millions in aid to Ukraine until the country announced an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, whom Trump saw as a chief political rival.
“At base, the President has a choice to make: he can take this opportunity to be represented in the impeachment hearings, or he can stop complaining about the process,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, in a statement. “I hope that he chooses to participate in the inquiry, directly or through counsel, as other Presidents have done before him.”
Nadler wrote in his letter to Trump that he was “hopeful that you and your counsel will opt to participate in the Committee’s hearing, consistent with the rules of decorum and with the solemn nature of the work before us.”
House investigators haven’t heard from some of the figures at the center of the alleged plot, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled that former White House counsel Don McGahn had to testify before Congress, a decision which could impact other congressional subpoenas.
But the Trump administration has appealed, and a Democratic aide said that if they simply waited for the judicial process to play out, the administration would be successful in interfering in the congressional investigation.
Read the full letter to Trump below.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.