Nancy Pelosi Reportedly Wants To Move ‘Expeditiously’ On Trump’s Impeachment, May Hold Vote By End Of The Year

The House of Representatives, under the direction of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wants to move “expeditiously” on impeaching Donald Trump, with a goal of having Articles of Impeachment written up by Thanksgiving and a full vote on the matter taking place before the end of the year.

As ABC News reports, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Friday that the House is working on a plan of action to get everything done that needs to be done as soon as possible. Those preparations include drawing up lists of which witnesses the Committee would like to hear from, getting depositions, and issuing subpoenas.

On the matter of subpoenas, Schiff expects resistance from some of the individuals who will be issued them. He’s made it clear that failing to respond to a subpoena will be treated as suspicious at best. In a letter signed by Schiff and others, which has been sent to the State Department, the House Foreign Affairs Committee warned that its subpoenas are to be taken seriously.

“The subpoenaed documents shall be part of the impeachment inquiry and shared among the Committees. Your failure or refusal to comply with the subpoena shall constitute evidence of obstruction of the House’s impeachment inquiry,” the letter reads.

On the matter of witnesses, Schiff says that one of the people the House would like to hear from is the whistleblower, whose letter, of which you can read a summary in this Inquisitr report that also provides a link to the entire, redacted letter, got the ball rolling on impeachment.

Other people the House would like to hear from include Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani; former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and his principal deputy, Sue Gordon; and Attorney General William Barr; among others.

Democrats are reportedly hopeful that the entire investigation will be done and the Articles of Impeachment — the document that, constitutionally, informs the vote on impeachment — written by Thanksgiving, which this year is on November 28. House leadership reportedly hopes to then hold the impeachment vote before December 31.

“I think it’s everyone’s intention here to get this done in 2019,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Massachusetts Democrat who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Pelosi, for her part, wants to make sure the impeachment inquiry is narrowly focused on the Ukraine allegations. California Democrat Eric Swalwell, a member of both the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, says that by keeping a narrow scope to the investigation, the Trump administration will have limited opportunities to stonewall the investigation.

“Keeping it simple avoids court,” he said.