Havard law professor says Trump's Ukraine call is enough to impeachment: The latest

The House impeachment inquiry could become even more combative and theatrical Wednesday, as the Judiciary Committee holds its first hearing into whether to recommend the potential removal of President Donald Trump.

The Judiciary Committee has focused on whether Trump obstructed justice in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference with the 2016 election.

Pamela Karlan, a law professor at Stanford Law School, said she represented the committee in voting rights cases before the Supreme Court under both Republican and Democratic majorities.

In response to Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., who complained that there were no fact witnesses at the hearing to move the inquiry forward, Karlan said she reviewed the transcripts of all the testimony at two weeks of public hearings before the House Intelligence Committee.

“I would not speak about these things without reviewing the facts,” Karlan said. “I’m insulted by the suggestion that as a law professor, I don’t care about the facts.”

Havard law professor says Trump's Ukraine call is enough for impeachment
Noah Feldman, a Harvard University law professor, led lawmakers through a recitation of the debate about including the impeachment provision within the Constitution for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Feldman said Trump’s call with Zelensky alone is enough to impeach the president.

“President Trump’s conduct described in the testimony and evidence clearly constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under the Constitution,” Feldman said. “According to the testimony and to the publicly released memorandum of the July 25, 2019, telephone call between the two presidents, President Trump abused his office by soliciting the president of Ukraine to investigate his political rivals in order to gain personal political advantage, including in the 2020 presidential election. This act on its own qualifies as an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor.”