Fox News reports that a new book by Politico Playbook co-author Rachael Bade and Washington Post reporter Karoun Demirjian notes how key Democratic leaders feuded with each other and operated unscrupulously when attempting to impeach then-President Donald Trump.
The book profiles the maneuverings of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler.
Interestingly, the book presents hyper-anti-Trump Jerry Nadler constantly warning that Trump was being denied due process and insisted that the methods being employed to impeach him were “unconstitutional.”
The likely to be highly talked about revelations are presented in the book, “Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress’s Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump.” The book is set to be released on October 18.
The authors contend that in October 2019, as Democrats in the House planned to vote on a resolution regarding the structure of impeachment proceedings against President Trump, Nadler took issue with how Schiff was preparing to proceed with the impeachment without allowing due process for Trump.
Reportedly, Nadler confronted Schiff and said: “It’s unfair, and it’s unprecedented, and it’s unconstitutional.”
Schiff allegedly responded: “I don’t appreciate your tone. I worry you’re putting us in a box for our investigation.”
For a time following the encounter, Pelosi “sidelined” Nadler. This greatly concerned him. According to the book, Nadler made an “effort to get back into Pelosi’s good graces,” and his “aides sucked up to her staff relentlessly,” this, despite his acknowledgment that proceeding with the impeachment as planned, was “unfair … unprecedented, and … unconstitutional.”
Though the team’s research found that impeachment proceedings for former presidents Nixon and Johnson did grant due process to the defendant, Pelosi and Schiff refused to change course.
The book reads: “[Pelosi] didn’t want the Judiciary panel to interview witnesses at all.”
Nadler reportedly warned: “Stick close to the Nixon and Clinton cases,” expressing concerns about the legality of Trump’s impeachment. “You have to arm yourself against these process complaints.”
The book notes that Pelosi and Schiff “did not take Nadler seriously.”
Eventually, Nadler found his way back into Pelosi’s good graces, but the book asserts feuding between Nadler and Schiff continued throughout the impeachment proceedings.
The book claims that Nadler repeatedly argued: “If we’re going to impeach, we need to show the country that we gave the president ample opportunity to defend himself.”
Reportedly, Dan Goldman, Schiff’s lead counsel durng the first impeachment hearing against Trump, “scoffed at the idea.”
According to the Fox report, tension reached a “breaking point when Schiff sent Nadler a draft of the resolution laying out the rules for impeachment, which ignored his concerns about due process for the president.”
“These lawless HPSCI bast–ds!” one Judiciary aide said, according to the book. Another claimed: “It’s dumb. It’s illegal!”
The book claims the last time Nadler and Schiff met, Nadler said: “They’re going to argue we don’t have due process for Trump. Why make that argument real?”
Schiff replied harshly: “I write the rules of my committee, not you. I resent you telling me how to run my committee.”
The book presents Pelosi as driving the impeachment issue forward in a cold, calculating manner and attempting to make the case that removing Trump from office was a “national security issue.”
“We need to make the case more strongly that this is a national security issue,” Pelosi told her team, according to the book. “Eighty percent plus say it’s not okay for the president to ask for foreign assistance [in an election] — despite Trump asserting that he can do it. I just think we need to make this case to rural voters, evangelicals, and Republicans.”
The book claims Pelosi used her influence to quash Republican criticisms that Trump was not treated fairly:
“Let’s not give them any attention,” she said, according to the book. Pelosi reportedly added: “Democrats are giving Trump more rights than the Democrats had under the Clinton impeachment.”
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.