Reporter Overhears Top Dem on Train Revealing Post-Election Impeachment Plans
The day after the midterms, Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway claims to have overheard New York Democrat Congressman Jerry Nadler — who is expected to became chairman of the House Judiciary Committee — on a train ride to Washington, D.C., discussing his plans to impeach newly appointed Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and to investigate and possibly try to impeach President Donald Trump.
Hemingway recounted in The Federalist that Nadler was heading to DC from New York on the Amtrak Acela train for a two-day planning session with his Judiciary Committee staff, when she heard him discussing on a phone call his plans to investigate Kavanaugh.
“The two discussed two routes for investigating new Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh,” she wrote. “The first is to go after the FBI for how they handled the investigation into unsubstantiated claims he sexually assaulted women. ‘They didn’t even do a half-ass job,’ he said. ‘They didn’t interview 30 witnesses who said “Interview me! I’ve got a lot to say!” he said, while mimicking people waving their hands to be called on.”
Oh, this is fantastic @mzhemingway! https://t.co/8fXCBniwdk
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) November 7, 2018
The second route Nadler proffered was going after Kavanugh for perjury.
Hemingway said the congressman was apparently referring to a claim that the then-nominee perjured himself during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding when he had heard about an allegation by Deborah Ramirez about exposing himself to her at a party during the 1980s, a claim reported by The New Yorker.
“Considering that The New Yorker included a denial from Kavanaugh in its own controversial story, and was asking him about it right before publication, and he acknowledged all that in his Senate testimony, it’s unclear how fruitful such a perjury claim would be,” she wrote.
When the caller apparently objected to the plan, Nadler responded, “That’s not technical, that’s real.”
Later in the conversation, Nadler reportedly lamented that any investigation of Kavanaugh would not take long enough to last until the next presidential election, meaning Trump could just appoint someone else if their efforts to impeach were successful.
“There are a finite amount of witnesses. I don’t see why it should take long at all,” Nadler said. “We’re not talking about a 30-year scheme of getting money from Russians via hidden sources — that takes time.”
The latter appeared to be a reference to investigating Trump for alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
Nadler said the Russia investigations the Democrats intend to launch will fall under the umbrella of holding Trump “accountable,” rather than couched as potential impeachment proceedings, because it would be more palatable to the public.
The congressman revealed the Democrats are “all-in” for investigating Trump regarding ties to Russia and that the Judiciary Committee to take a supporting role to the House Intelligence Committee under the leadership of Rep. Adam Schiff of California.
Hemingway spoke about her train encounter with Nadler on Fox News’ “Special Report” on Wednesday night.
“You might wish that Democrats would work on legislation instead of continuing with some of these endless probes, but the executive branch needs to be smart about this, to not be as naive as they were at the beginning of the administration,” she said.
“You always have to go with the quiet car,” FNC anchor Bret Baier quipped regarding Hemingway catching Nadler off-guard.
The Democrat may have given a preview of things to come in a statement he released following Trump’s firing Wednesday of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“The firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions fits a clear pattern of interference from President Donald Trump in the work of the Justice Department and the ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller,” Nadler said in a statement.
“There is no mistaking what this means, and what is at stake: This is a constitutionally perilous moment for our country and for the president.”
The congressman went on to warn that Trump may feel he has the power to hire and fire whom he pleases, but if he “abuses his office” for “the purposes of subverting the rule of law and obstructing justice … there will be consequences.”
“The American people understand that no person is above the law and have demanded accountability from their government,” Nadler said. “The firing of Jeff Sessions will be investigated and people will be held accountable.”
As Hemingway pointed out in her piece, in March 2017 Nadler called for Sessions to resign, tweeting, “He cannot possibly lead DOJ to promote trust & rule of law.”
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