What to expect at the House Judiciary Committee’s second impeachment hearing

Ahead of drafting articles of impeachment, the House Judiciary Committee will examine the evidence gathered so far in the impeachment inquiry.

The House Judiciary Committee will hold its second public impeachment hearing Monday, following its first last week, which addressed what constitutes an impeachable offense.

In this second hearing, lawmakers will review evidence gathered by the House Intelligence Committee during the first phase of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. And Democratic lawmakers will also work to build a case that the presidential behavior cataloged in that evidence matches the definitions of impeachable conduct established last week.

The hearing will serve as a prelude to the introduction of articles of impeachment; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi charged top Democrats with drafting those articles last week, and the Judiciary Committee could vote on them as early as Thursday.

Democrats reportedly began working on those articles Saturday, but the final wording and scope is far from set — and that, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler told CNN, is where Monday’s hearing comes in.

“There are possible drafts that various people are writing,” Nadler said Sunday. “But the fact is we’re not going to make any decision as to how broad the articles should be — as to what they contain, what the wording is — until after the hearing tomorrow.”

Once that wording is set, the articles will be put to a vote in the Judiciary Committee — where they are expected to pass on party lines — and they will then be put before the full House of Representatives.