What's next: Articles of Impeachment and the Senate Trial

Now that the House inquiry has been wrapped up, with a dozen strong witnesses and mountains of evidence, what do we have in front of us?

We have a very clear picture that the president* of the United States tried to coerce the newly-elected president of Ukraine to announce investigations into a domestic political rival by conditioning a badly-needed White House meeting, as well as $400 million in Congressionally-approved military aid, on the announcement. It's pretty black and white, and there is a lot of evidence to support this, not the least of which is a call memorandum between Trump and Ukraine president Zelensky where 45 clearly asks for the investigation, as well as the televised confession of his chief of staff that there was a hold-up of aid. A dozen witnesses testified that he did it. The witnesses who claim that he didn't are refusing to testify.


Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) summarized the impeachment inquiry perfectly:

Eric Swalwell

What's next?

Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and the Intelligence Committee, who headed the public testimony, will compile a report of their findings and send it to the Judiciary Committee for review. The Judiciary Committee will decide whether or not to draft articles of impeachment. If they do, the entire House of Representatives will vote on each article.

They'll send the approved articles to the Senate, where they will hold a trial. Members of the House of Representatives, called managers, will act as sort-of prosecutors. The Senate acts as jury. Chief Justice Roberts oversees the proceedings.

There is no plan for more witnesses to testify, though that could change. The presumed timeline is that the House will vote on articles of impeachment before Christmas, and the trial in the Senate would start in January.

For now, Congress is on Thanksgiving break.

There is still a chance that other witnesses could testify. There has been tantalizing hints by John Bolton wanting to testify but not wanting to come voluntarily. He wants a court to decide if he can be compelled to testify if subpoenaed. A court ruling could take a very long time.

We need to hear from first-hand witnesses: John Bolton, Rudy Giuliani, Mick Mulvaney, Mike Pompeo, Rick Perry, and Mike Pence. Throw in Lev and Igor, Giuliani's Ukrainian henchman "associates," who have been indicted on campaign finance violations.. They know a lot. In fact, Parnas has tapes!

The Senate trial may turn into a circus. It's been reported that the GOP will try to call Hunter Biden and push for the whistleblower and even Adam Schiff to testify. At least we have Chief Justice Roberts to keep a handle on things.

Roberts, I hope, will be a friend in the endeavor to seek the truth. In fact, I came upon this. It may be an intentional strategy of the Democrats for them to forego waiting for the courts to decide on the compelling of witnesses who have been instructed by 45 not to testify, like Mulvaney and Pompeo, in favor of having Justice Roberts decide during the trial. Yanno, Justice Roberts has felt pressure to restore esteem to the Supreme Court since the Kavanaugh days. He really can't afford to appear anything but absolutely impartial in the impeachment trial.


Instead of preparing a defense, Trump is bribing members of the Senate, and has been for some time.

Back on Halloween day, it was reported that he was filling the coffers of Senators who have tough re-election campaigns coming up next year. This week, it was reported that he was wining and dining Republican lawmakers at Camp David as well as luncheons at the Whitewash House. They are loving it. I am not.


In the meantime, he auditioned – and was cast – for the role of Defendant in the Trial of the Century. Trevor Noah of The Daily Show has the audition tape:

Happy Thanksgiving, Resisters! I'm thankful for so much, including my Brother and Sister Resisters, brave patriots in the service of our Country!