The House Judiciary Committee began formal consideration of two impeachment articles against President Donald Trump on Wednesday night, a four-plus-hour partisan slugfest that changed few minds but yielded dozens of political attack lines that will be repeated endlessly in coming weeks.
Republicans blasted the process as unworthy of the storied Judiciary panel. They accused Democrats of a “political hit job,” “a rigged process” and a “naked partisan exercise” designed to remove a president whom they always opposed.
But Democrats hit back hard, calling Trump “the smoking gun” who engaged in a “constitutional crime spree.” And they said the quick pace of the impeachment proceedings is critical because of the “clear and present danger” Trump poses to the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.