Trump invited to impeachment hearing next week

The House Judiciary Committee will hold its first public impeachment hearing next week, and President Trump is invited to testify, panel Democrats announced Tuesday.

"At base, the president has a choice to make: He can take this opportunity to be represented in the impeachment hearings, or he can stop complaining about the process," Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York said. "I hope that he chooses to participate in the inquiry, directly or through counsel, as other presidents have done before him.”

The Democratic congressman sent a letter to Trump inviting him to attend and to let the panel know "as soon as possible" if he plans to make an appearance.

The proceedings will tackle the “constitutional grounds for presidential impeachment.”

Under a resolution dictating the terms of the proceedings, the hearing will permit White House lawyers to participate and defend Trump, who Democrats believe abused his office by seeking Ukraine’s help investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee.