With Judiciary preparing to move forward on impeachment post-Thanksgiving recess, some Democrats see this as a “second chance” for Nadler to get right with Pelosi and other party leaders.

As lawmakers on the Judiciary panel were leaving the Capitol Thursday for the weeklong Thanksgiving break, several said they still hadn’t received guidance on preparations to make over the recess or what to expect when they come back.

“I don't think that there has been a discussion amongst the committee as to the future course of the impeachment process,” said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), a member of the Judiciary Committee. “How we will do that, whether or not we will take evidence as we move forward with that process, that has not been discussed.”

Nadler didn’t provide much information when asked how his committee will conduct the impeachment proceedings.

“I’m not going to comment, it depends on a lot of things,” Nadler said.

Under the Oct. 31 resolution authorizing the impeachment inquiry, Schiff and the other committees handling elements of the Trump probe — Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, Oversight and Ways and Means — are tasked with turning over materials to Judiciary, which will determine what materials are used in drafting impeachment articles.

But the Judiciary Committee’s first move may be explain to Americans what impeachment is and how it works. If Nadler follows the model of the Clinton impeachment — which he opposed in 1998 — Judiciary will begin with a public hearing on the definition of an impeachable offense.

The second set of hearings would entail Schiff and other chairmen presenting their findings formally to the Judiciary Committee, with the overwhelming bulk of that material coming from the Intelligence panel’s review of the Ukraine scandal. The Intelligence Committee deposed 17 witnesses behind closed-doors and heard dozens of hours of public testimony as they collected evidence that Trump abused his power and pressured a foreign ally to investigate his Democratic rivals.

A third phase could allow the White House and Trump to present exculpatory evidence and call witnesses. And a fourth — and final — phase would be the consideration of articles themselves before the panel sends them to the House floor.

A major issue will also be what witnesses Trump wants to call for his defense, if the president decides to present one in the Judiciary Committee. Clinton’s defense team called 14 witnesses during the 1998 impeachment proceedings, according to the panel’s records.