Heckler shouts 'Trump is innocent' at House evidence hearing
A U.S. congressional panel leading the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump will debate the evidence against him on Monday, with Democratic lawmakers poised to move forward with possible formal charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress this week.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will formally review evidence from impeachment investigators at an all-day hearing scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (1400 GMT), a key step before determining charges, known as articles of impeachment, that the full House is likely to vote on before Christmas.
The committee could vote to send them to the House floor later this week, Democratic Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said on Sunday, as lawmakers sharpened their focus on charges of wrongdoing in Trump's dealings with Ukraine.
That will set up an inevitable clash with Trump and his Republican allies, who maintain that Democrats are on a partisan mission to unseat a president who did nothing to merit impeachment. No current House Republican has come out in favor of impeaching Trump.
A vote in the House in favor of impeachment would trigger a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate where a two-thirds vote of those present would be needed to remove the president from office. A conviction is considered unlikely.
