Impeachment inquiry enters critical new phase

House Democrats plowing ahead with their impeachment investigation will enter the twilight phase this week, when lawmakers begin to examine the most crucial question facing them to date: Do President Trump's dealings with Ukraine warrant his removal from office?

The answer, to be decided by the Judiciary Committee, seems increasingly likely to result in a House vote later this month to make Trump just the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.

And it carries far-reaching consequences for a restless nation fiercely divided over Trump's fitness for office — ramifications that will long echo through the halls of a partisan Congress and extend far into the 2020 election cycle, when voters will be asked to deliver their own verdict on the impulsive figure in the Oval Office.

The shift, in many ways, won't be subtle.

Up until now, the impeachment inquiry has been piloted by the Intelligence Committee, which staged a long series of closed-door depositions and public hearings with senior diplomats and national security officials with knowledge of Trump's handling of foreign policy in Kyiv.

Those opening rounds featured a dry, just-the-facts approach designed to glean the details surrounding any efforts by Trump and his allies to pressure foreign leaders to find dirt on the president's domestic political opponents.

Committee Democrats worked through the Thanksgiving recess drafting a report on their findings, which will become available to members of the Intelligence Committee Monday evening. The panel will then vote Tuesday evening to adopt the report, along with any minority views, and send it on to the Judiciary Committee.