Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) tapped Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) to take the lead on impeachment Wednesday as Democrats prepare their case for a trial before the Republican-controlled Senate.
On Wednesday, Pelosi appointed six other impeachment managers to assist Schiff, who led the House Intelligence Committee hearings exploring President Donald Trump's handling of Ukrainian aid. Schiff and House Democrats have been adamant in demanding that the Senate call additional witnesses to testify. Schiff told reporters that without these witnesses, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) will have turned the trial into a "cover up" on Trump's behalf.
Pelosi appointed both freshman and senior Democrats as impeachment managers, many of whom have law enforcement and prosecutorial backgrounds. She named Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), House Administration chairwoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), House Democratic Caucus chairman Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), as well as Reps. Val Demings (Fla.), Jason Crow (Colo.), and Sylvia Garcia (Tex.) to the team.
Only Nadler and Lofgren served in Congress during the impeachment of former president Bill Clinton. Both criticized the attempt to remove Clinton from office in 1998, while they served on the House Judiciary Committee. Nadler said Clinton's impeachment was partisan and illegitimate, while Lofgren said impeachment obstructed the American voters' democratic decision to elect Clinton.
"This is unfair to the American people," Lofgren said on the House floor. "By these actions, you would undo the free election that expressed the will of the American people in 1996. In so doing, you will damage the faith the American people have in this institution and in the American democracy."
The Senate is expected to begin the impeachment trial as early as this week.