(Bloomberg) -- The full House is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to adopt the two articles approved by the Judiciary Committee and make President
Donald Trump only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.Here are the latest developments:Democrats Offer Jobs to Rebel Member’s Aides (11:39 a.m.)The chairwoman of the House Democrats‘ campaign committee offered jobs to aides of Representative Jeff Van Drew who left his office following news reports that the freshman New Jersey lawmaker plans to quit his party and become a Republican.“It’s right before the holidays and these staffers just quit their jobs to stand up for their
Democratic values. We’ll bring them and others who leave on with the @dccc until they land new jobs that align with their values,” Chairwoman Cheri Bustos of Illinois wrote on Twitter. She also asked for donations to keep Van Drew’s district in Democratic hands.Van Drew is one of just two House
Democrats who voted against opening the impeachment inquiry in October. He won a vacant seat in 2018, though
election analyst David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report said his southern New Jersey district is “trending towards” Trump and Republicans. He said Van Drew “was just about the only Democrat capable of winning” there.Five Van Drew staffers announced their resignations in a letter dated Sunday. They said they “are deeply saddened and disappointed” by his reported decision to join the GOP — which he has not publicly announced — and “can no longer in good conscience continue” to work for him. The aides are Javier Gamboa, Edward Kaczmarski, Justin O’Leary, Mackenzie Lucas and Caroline Wood.Judiciary Panel Releases Report (9:21 a.m.)The House Judiciary Committee released a 169-page report spelling out Democrats’ grounds for two articles of impeachment, arguing that Trump poses “a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office.”The two articles allege the president abused the power of his office by soliciting
Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election and then obstructing
Congress during its investigation.The report is meant to support an impeachment resolution the House Rules Committee will consider Tuesday in what’s expected to be a marathon hearing setting the terms for floor debate ahead of a full House vote on Wednesday.The Judiciary Committee “does not lightly conclude that
President Trump acted with corrupt motives,” the report states, calling that conclusion “inescapable.”The report accuses Trump of using his official powers “to solicit and pressure” Ukraine to launch investigations into former Vice President
Joe Biden, a 2020 rival.It also criticizes the White House’s resistance to cooperating with the probe.“No president before this one has declared himself and his entire branch of government exempt from subpoenas issued by the House under its ‘sole power of Impeachment’,” the panel’s Democrats wrote.Committee
Republicans filed a separate dissenting report that said “the paltry record on which the majority relies is an affront to the constitutional process of impeachment and will have grave consequences for future presidents.”The Republicans described as “hyperbolic and untrue” Democratic claims that the 2020 election is at risk and the national interest is in jeopardy unless action is taken against Trump.“The quicker the majority report and the majority’s actions are forgotten, the better,” they stated.Catch Up on Impeachment CoverageKey EventsThe House Judiciary Committee on Friday approved the two articles of impeachment on 23-17 party-line votes.The House impeachment resolution is H.Res. 755. The Intelligence Committee Democrats’ impeachment report is here.Gordon Sondland’s transcript is here and here; Kurt Volker’s transcript is here and here. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch’s transcript is here and here; the transcript of Michael McKinley, former senior adviser to the secretary of State, is here. The transcript of Holmes, a Foreign Service officer in Kyiv, is here.The transcript of William Taylor, the top U.S. envoy to Ukraine, is here and here. State Department official George Kent’s testimony is here and here. Testimony by Alexander Vindman can be found here, and the Fiona Hill transcript is here. Laura Cooper’s transcript is here; Christopher Anderson’s is here and Catherine Croft’s is here. Jennifer Williams’ transcript is here and Timothy Morrison’s is here. The Philip Reeker transcript is here. Mark Sandy’s is here.To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in
Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Kathleen Hunter, Laurie AsséoFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.