Jerry Nadler Gives Trump Friday Deadline; Impeachment to Include Russia Collusion

House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) wrote to President Donald Trump Friday, giving him until Friday, Dec. 6., to answer whether he and his lawyers would participate in the “impeachment inquiry.”

Nadler’s letter quotes the forthcoming report from the House Intelligence Committee, which will be written entirely by Democrats and which will recommend drafting articles of impeachment against the president. The report will state that there was “a months-long effort in which President Trump again sought foreign interference in our elections for his personal and political benefit at the expense of our national interest”; and that the president conducted “an unprecedented campaign of obstruction in an effort to prevent the Committees from obtaining documentary evidence and testimony.”

The word “again” suggests that the House Intelligence Committee will not limit its report to allegations that Trump invited Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election, but will also state that Trump sought Russian interference in the 2016 election — even though Special Counsel Robert Mueller found there to be no evidence of such collusion.

NYT Points to ‘Murky’ Detail in ‘Ilhan Omar’ Brother-Marriage Fraud Probe: The Man Who Married Her

Treasury flags $8B in suspicious foreign-directed transfers through US money services firms

Liberal court delivers immigration win for Trump as judge warns of ‘floodgates’ if law firm succeeded

Major Human Trafficking Sting in Florida Nets 281 Arrests – Including Disney Workers

Clancy father targeted in alleged wiretap as medical lawsuits hint at strategy split: cops

Pope Leo makes history in US election with move confirmed by Vatican

Death row killer Christa Pike describes waking up after execution she never expected to survive

Dem operative admits Ilhan Omar case has legs as liberal firewall begins to crack: ‘I’m not stupid’

25 Percent of Non-American Citizens in Single Town Illegally Voted in at Least One Federal Election: Nonprofit

US Economy Continues to Roar as Q3 GDP Growth Hits 3.4 Percent, Blowing Past Predictions

Elon Musk Lays Out Exactly What Dems Will Do If GOP Voters Don’t Show Up at the Polls

Obama Condemns Ilhan Omar Investigation That He Himself Started – Plus 6 More Examples of His Complete Hypocrisy

Peltola insists ‘I knew nothing’ about alleged ‘Decoy Dan’ scheme as Sullivan alleges she is ‘still lying’

Vance leans into Ohio ties to make a sale for GOP candidates

DOJ escalates Alaska legal battle as it pursues discovery in Peltola spoiler operation

Nadler added that Trump is being investigated for obstruction of justice, relating to actions described by Mueller in the second volume of his report, though Mueller did not recommend prosecution and Attorney General William Barr rejected obstruction charges against Trump on the merits.

The White House cooperated fully with Mueller and never exerted executive privilege over any witnesses or documents. It has resisted participating in the House “impeachment inquiry,” which it regards as illegitimate.

Nadler has invited the president and his counsel to call and question witnesses, in accordance with the House resolution authorizing the impeachment inquiry last month — though the president was not allowed to do so in the Intelligence Committee inquiry. However, Nadler and the Democratic majority on the committee can overrule requests for witnesses.

In addition, the House Rules Committee warned last month that Nadler would be allowed to limit the president’s ability to call witnesses if he does not provide witnesses and documents the committee wants.

Republicans criticized Nadler’s letter. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), who participated in the earlier round of closed-door hearings, said that Nadler’s letter proved that the president had previously been denied due process rights: