WASHINGTON: The House Judiciary Committee is set to take over the impeachment probe of President Donald Trump, scheduling a hearing for next week as they push closer to a possible vote on actual charges of high crimes and misdemeanours.

The Judiciary panel scheduled the hearing as the Intelligence Committee on Tuesday released two last transcripts from its depositions, including from a White House budget official who detailed concerns among colleagues as Trump ordered them, through intermediaries, to put a hold on military aid to Ukraine.

Trump ordered the hold as he was pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate Democrats, the issue at the heart of the impeachment probe. Multiple government witnesses testified in impeachment hearings held by the Intelligence panel this month that Trump directed his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to take the lead on Ukraine policy and that Giuliani pushed an irregular diplomatic channel.

The Intelligence Committee is wrapping up the investigative phase of the probe and preparing its report for the next. Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has said the report could be released soon after the house returns from its Thanksgiving break.

The initial judiciary hearing on Dec 4, the day after lawmakers return, will feature legal experts who will examine questions of constitutional grounds as the panel decides whether to write articles of impeachment against Trump and if so what those articles will be. Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said that his panel's hearing will explore the framework put in place to respond to serious allegations of impeachable misconduct.

Democrats are aiming for a final House vote by Christmas, which would set the stage for a likely Senate trial in January.

Trump, meanwhile, tried to put distance between himself and Giuliani in a radio interview on Tuesday. Asked by host Bill OReilly what Giuliani was doing on his behalf in Ukraine, Trump said, I don’t even know, adding that Giuliani had cancelled one trip and had other clients as well.

Asked directly if he had directed Giuliani to go to Ukraine on his behalf, Trump said, No.

In a phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on July 25, Trump had said several times he would have Giuliani contact Zelenskiy. Rudy very much knows what's happening and he is a very capable guy, Trump said to Zelenskiy, according to a rough transcript released by the White House.

Trump and his lawyers are invited to attend the Judiciary hearing and make a request to question witnesses, according to Democratic rules approved by the House last month. The committee released a letter from Nadler to the Republican president, saying he hopes Trump will participate, consistent with the rules of decorum and with the solemn nature of the work before us.

The White House said on Wednesday that it was reviewing Nadler's letter.

But what is obvious to every American is that this letter comes at the end of an illegitimate sham partisan process, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said. The president has done nothing wrong and the Democrats know it.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2019