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.

Watch: Trump Jumps Into Action to Corral Toddler Wandering Onstage

Watch: Mamdani Booed off Stage at Police Event – Moments Later Critic Tried to Confront Mayor, Collapsed in Cardiac Arrest

US pauses government operations in cartel-ridden Mexican state

Trump’s endorsement collides with $1.3M effort to oust House ally

Abdul el Sayed won the progressive fight. Now he must reunite Democrats to keep Michigan blue

EXCLUSIVE: Illegal immigrant’s hit-and-run on ‘kind’ elderly woman triggers ICE action: ‘Could hear screaming’

Rand Paul predicts Fauci contempt vote will pass, vows swift DOJ referral

Florida man allegedly attacked sister with machete while she was sleeping next to toddler daughter

Trump blasts Democratic socialist candidate as ‘full of s—‘ and Dems are skipping socialism ‘for communism’

Florida man accused of cutting off diver’s air supply in fight over coveted lobster diving spot

Bodycam video shows Canadian woman allegedly giving false name before deputies discovered 12 fake IDs

Federal judge acknowledges Supreme Court ruling clearing path for Trump to end Haiti TPS

Fauci’s HHS iPhone turned over to Senate investigators as contempt vote looms

Trans Star Jailed, Charged with Multiple Felonies Related to ‘Alleged Sexual Assault Involving a Juvenile’

Masked man caught on camera smashing Virgin Mary statue with a hammer outside NYC church

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: