House impeachment hearing gets rancorous

Republican staff attorney Steve Castor testifies as the House Judiciary Committee hears investigative findings in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump on Monday on Capitol Hill.
Republican staff attorney Steve Castor testifies as the House Judiciary Committee hears investigative findings in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump on Monday on Capitol Hill.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Top House lawyers sparred with lawmakers and each other in an acrimonious hearing Monday over the impeachment case against President Donald Trump as Democrats prepare formal charges.

Democrats insisted Trump's push to have Ukraine investigate rival Joe Biden while withholding U.S. military aid ran counter to U.S. policy and benefited Russia as well as himself. But in one testy exchange, Republican attorney Stephen Castor dismissed the transcript of Trump's crucial call with Ukraine as "eight ambiguous lines" that did not amount to the president seeking a personal political favor.

Democrats argued vigorously Trump's meaning could not have been clearer in seeking political dirt on Biden, his possible opponent in the 2020 election.

The chief Democratic investigator, Daniel Goldman, asked for his view, testified, "I don't think there's any other way to read the words on the page." Goldman is the top Democratic counsel on the Intelligence Committee.

The Judiciary Committee is reviewing the findings of the Intelligence panel's 300-page report ahead of a vote, possibly as soon as this week, on two or more articles of impeachment on charges of abuse of power, bribery and obstruction against the Republican president. A vote in the full House could come before Christmas.

From the White House, Trump tweeted repeatedly, assailing the "Witch Hunt!" and "Do Nothing Democrats."

The top Republican on the Judiciary panel, Rep. Doug Collins, of Georgia, demanded to hear from Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, whose report provides the foundation for articles of impeachment. Schiff declined to appear, sending the panel's chief counsel to argue the case.

The hearing sets off a pivotal week as Democrats march toward a full House vote expected by Christmas. In drafting the articles of impeachment, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing a legal and political challenge of balancing the views of her majority while hitting the Constitution's bar of "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler was blunt as he opened the hearing, saying, "President Trump put himself before country."

Collins said Democrats are racing to jam impeachment through on a "clock and a calendar" ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

"They can't get over the fact that Donald Trump is the president of the United States, and they don't have a candidate that can beat him," Collins said.

Nadler said the case against Trump is clear after "multiple officials testified that the president's demand for an investigation into his rivals was a part of his personal, political agenda, and not related to the foreign policy objectives of the United States.

"The integrity of our next election is at stake."