Washington – Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday unveiled a seven-member team to prosecute President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial in the Senate, headed by a former prosecutor who has become a nemesis of the Republican president.
After weeks of delay, the House is expected on Wednesday afternoon to send the two impeachment charges passed last month against Trump to the Senate, clearing the way for the trial that will determine whether he is removed from office to start in earnest next week.
The weeks-long trial in the Senate – controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans – is expected to ultimately end in his acquittal, leaving him in office. But it will focus attention on Trump’s request that Ukraine investigate domestic political rival Joe Biden, as the 2020 presidential campaign heats up.
Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, 59, will lead the House “managers” who will put the case to senators that Trump should be ousted for pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden and obstructing Congress.
Schiff spearheaded the House impeachment investigation into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine and is a frequent target of Trump attacks. The president called Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, “a deranged human being” at a NATO meeting in Britain in December.