House Speaker Nancy Pelosi(D-CA) announced seven Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday who will serve as impeachment managers in the Senate trial against President Trump.
“Today, I am very proud to present the impeachment managers,” Pelosi said during the press conference. “It is their responsibility to present the very strong case for the president’s impeachment and removal. The impeachment managers represent the patriotism, pluralism and vibrancy of America.”
The team will consist of seven Democratic Congress members: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), who will be the lead manager, House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), Rep. Val Demings(D-FL), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX).
Today, I have the privilege of naming the Managers of the impeachment trial of the President. #DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/Y2613Ni3pC
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 15, 2020
After presenting the Democrats’ legal team, she noted the members she assembled were based on their experiences as litigators who are comfortable in a courtroom setting and making a strong, evidence-based case. The job of the impeachment managers in a Senate trial is to lay out the House approved arguments for removing the president from office.
“As you can see from these descriptions, the emphasis is on litigators,” Pelosi said. “The emphasis is on comfort level in the courtroom. The emphasis is on making the strongest possible case to protect and defend our Constitution to seek the truth for the American people.”
Pelosi pointed out that Lofgren was also involved in Presidents Clinton and Nixon impeachment proceedings.
“This is her third impeachment,” Pelosi said. “As a Judiciary Committee staffer in the Nixon impeachment, as a member of the Judiciary Committee on the Clinton impeachment and now as a manager in this impeachment of President Trump.”
Five of the seven managers are members of the House Judiciary Committee, and two, Schiff and Demings, are members of the Intelligence Committee.
During Clinton’s impeachment in 1999, there were 13 House impeachment managers, all white men. Pelosi chose seven for Trump’s trial, with three of the members are woman.
The House voted Dec. 19 on two articles impeaching Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Pelosi had delayed appointing the managers for nearly a month in an unsuccessful bid to get Senate Republicans to agree to a list of witnesses for the trial.
Trump hit back in a tweet after the announcement: “Here we go again, another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats. All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate!”
Here we go again, another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats. All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2020
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a statement following the announcement, saying Pelosi “focused on politics instead of the American people,” and that she “failed and the naming of these managers does not change a single thing.”
The House will vote this afternoon on the resolution appointing the managers Pelosi selected. Following the vote, the House managers are expected to deliver the articles to the Senate in person Wednesday afternoon.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the Senate trial will begin on next Tuesday.
