Democrats look to keep pressure on Trump as impeachment inquiry enters another new phase

With the president in Europe this week at a Nato summit, Democrats will hope to keep the pressure on in Washington, Chris Stevenson writes

Adam Schiff is one of the Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry (Getty)

So what do the latest hearings set for congress this week mean? Is this Donald Trump’s impeachment phase three? Whether or not you break it down, or see it as just one months-long process, it is a headache for the White House that it no doubt wishes will just go away.

But there is no chance of that for now. Democrats will be keen to press home the news headlines they gathered with the host of career diplomats that have publicly testified in front of the House of Representatives intelligence committee. Having had a few days’ break thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday, the buck now passes to the chamber’s judiciary committee, led by Jerry Nadler, which will be holding its first public hearings on Wednesday.

Before that, congress will return from the Thanksgiving break and the intelligence committee will immediately vote – at 6pm local time on Tuesday – on chair Adam Schiff’s impeachment report, which will set out the case for the removal of President Trump. It is a procedural, so that the investigation can be passed to the judiciary committee, and is expected to be split along party lines – with the Democrats in the majority.