Top House Democrat Heard Talking About Impeaching Trump and Kavanaugh

Rep. Jerrold Nadler from New York was overheard talking about investigating and impeaching both President Donald Trump and U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Brian Kavanaugh on phone calls during a train ride from New York to Washington Wednesday.

A reporter overheard the House Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat talk about several topics that included the Democrats’ post-election strategy, investigating and impeaching Trump and Kavanaugh, and concerns about how a strong economy could cause trouble for Democrats in the future according to The Federalist.

Nadler, who will likely chair the House Judiciary Committee in 2019, was overheard talking loudly on an Acela train as he was heading to Washington DC for a two-day planning session with his staff and Judiciary Committee staff.

“We’ve got to figure out what we’re doing,” Nadler said as he discussed routes for investigating new Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh, including one involving the FBI. “They didn’t even do a half-ass job,” Nadler said, adding, “They didn’t interview 30 witnesses who said ‘Interview me! I’ve got a lot to say!’”

A second plan described going after the U.S.Supreme Court justice because “there’s a real indication that Kavanaugh committed perjury,” Nadler said during the same phone call in which he referred to an article in The Atlantic that featured allegations from a third woman. When the caller objected to the plan, Nadler relented and indicated that even if Kavanaugh were removed, the desired political results might not be achieved.

“The worst-case scenario — or best case depending on your point of view — you prove he committed perjury, about a terrible subject and the Judicial Conference recommends you impeach him. So the president appoints someone just as bad,” he said.

Regarding Trump, Democrats will go “all-in,” Nadler said, and that their course of action depended on Special Counsel Robert J. Mueller’s report about his Russia-related investigation.

Nadler said the House Intelligence Committee, which is expected to be led by California Rep. Adam Schiff, would likely take the lead since it has “a way ahead start on that.” He predicted that Democrats would frame their investigations as part of an effort to hold Trump “accountable” rather than as a prelude to impeachment, because the public would find the investigations more palatable that way.