The House Judiciary Committee will be working overtime this weekend as it prepares for its second hearing in the formal impeachment inquiry. But this time, the committee will be receiving evidence to likely to begin the next phase of the investigating: drafting articles of impeachment.
Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.), who sits on the committee, said they could be drafting the articles as early as next week. Nevertheless, the thought of scripting a timeline may be too ambitious, she says.
"We don't want to put a timeline because things change so quickly," Mucarsel-Powell told Cheddar. "We are still receiving evidence, we're reviewing that evidence, but hopefully we will have a sense by December 20th."
During Monday's hearing, the Judiciary Committee will receive presentations of evidence from the Intelligence Committee.
"The evidence that we have received that's been very damning for the president has been abuse of power," Mucarsel-Powell said, referring to one of the articles being discussed. "I do believe that we'll be talking specifically about abuse of power."
Nevertheless, Mucarsel-Powell said she is "unsure" if other articles, like obstruction of justice and obstruction of Congress, will be drafted.
"We have seen him use the presidency, the office of the presidency, to put pressure on a foreign government, for his own private and political gain," she said, referring to President Trump's now-infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "And that's very dangerous for our national security. It also threatens the integrity of our elections."
On Thursday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would begin the process of drafting the articles, her biggest step forward in the inquiry since explaining the House would open an investigation at the end of September.
Earlier in the day. President Trump urged House Democrats to move "fast" if they decide to impeach him, "so we can have a fair trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business."
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham echoed that message writing: "We look forward to a fair trial in the Senate."
And while the GOP strategy has been to criticize Democrats for focusing on impeachment, like President Trump who calls them the "Do-Nothing Democrats", Mucarsel-Powell explained that the Caucus has little recourse but to move forward.
"We have been left with absolutely no other choice but to deal with the impeachment of a sitting president that would do anything to hold on to the power of his office for his re-election," she said.
The Supreme Court will reconsider race-based affirmative action in college admissions. The court will examine admissions policies at Harvard University and The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, which count the race of applicants as a factor in admissions. The court has upheld affirmative action policies in the past, saying it helps to create more diverse student bodies. However, the conservative Supreme Court could be skeptical and even possibly hostile to such policies. Nick Anderson, Higher Education Writer, Washington Post joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Stephanie Akin, Politics Reporter for CQ Roll Call, breaks down
Senator Manchin's donation pool, and highlights what this support means for the conservative Democrat as well as the Republican party.
The global oil benchmark surpassed $90 for the first time in more than seven years. This comes as growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine add to concerns about the already-tight market. Jay Hatfield, Chief Investment Officer at ICAP, joined Cheddar to discuss what this benchmark means for the oil industry, and what might happen if Russia does invade its neighbor.
With the Beijing Winter Olympics set to get underway on Friday, Dan Wolken, a national columnist for USA Today, joined Cheddar News to break down the big storylines as the pandemic and international conflicts threaten to cast a cloud over the event that is aspirationally seen as a beacon of international cooperation. Wolken noted specific issues over cybersecurity for visiting athletes and disputes over human rights leading to a diplomatic boycott have been making waves even before the opening ceremony. "So you've got sort of these barbs going back and forth already between the Americans and the Chinese, and things haven't even started yet," he said. "We don't even know what's going to happen once the games start and people actually start winning medals."
We are a week away from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and China has already faced a host of problems leading up to the opening ceremony of the Beijing games. DJ Peterson, president of Longview Global Advisors, joins Cheddar News to discuss the many concerns and controversies surrounding the event.
In 2021, QAnon, the community which traffics in conspiracy theories saw a rapid growth in its numbers. As a result of vaccine rollouts, a number of conspiracies surrounding them also began to circulate which then led to the rise of "Anti-Vaxxers". As a result, the QAnon and anti-vax communities have become increasingly intertwined and the results could be costing lives. Senior Researcher at Media Matters Alex Kaplan, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Supreme Court Justice Breyer has announced that he will officially retire from his post. He has served as the senior member of the more liberal wing in recent years. Now his retirement puts pressure on President Biden to decide on who will replace Breyer. Attorney and Media Editor at SCOTUS blog Katie Barlow, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
A long awaited report in the UK looking into the alleged parties held at 10 Downing Street during lockdown finds a culture of excessive drinking and a "failure of leadership" in Boris Johnson's government. Cheddar News speaks with international journalist Thomas Cole, who is closely monitoring latest developments.
