Meet the House Impeachment Managers: Pelosi's Prosecutors Who Will Make the Case to Remove Trump
Nearly all of the managers selected for the Democrats have law degrees, and some are former prosecutors themselves.
January 15, 2020 at 10:41 AM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
Chairman Adam Schiff, D-California, during a House Intelligence Committee impeachment inquiry hearing into President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 19, 2019. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has unveiled her picks for the House managers who will serve as prosecutors in the Senate trial on whether President Donald Trump should be removed from office.
Nearly all of the managers selected for the Democrats have law degrees, and some are former prosecutors themselves. Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, who took the lead in the impeachment inquiry, are expected to replicate that performance on the Senate floor.
The House team will face off with Trump's attorneys for the first time in the impeachment proceedings, after the White House refused to participate in the process while it was under House Democrats' control. White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump's personal attorney Jay Sekulow will reportedly lead the president's defense.
Adam Schiff
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee oversaw the investigation into whether Trump improperly pushed for Ukrainian investigations into the Bidens, a massive undertaking that took the reins of the impeachment inquiry from the Judiciary Committee.
A former federal prosecutor himself, Schiff hired Daniel Goldman, the former Manhattan federal prosecutor who questioned witnesses during the closed-door interviews as well as the public hearings. Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, Schiff clerked for U.S. District Judge William Byrne.
Schiff's closing statements during the public hearings were often powerful and a strong reminder of his prosecutorial past. House Democrats are certain to rely on such performances as they make their case on the Senate floor.
Jerry Nadler
The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee will also get the chance to argue for Trump's removal to the Senate. Impeachment has long been on Nadler's desk, beginning with the Mueller report and his committee's resulting lawsuits, seeking information from the special counsel's investigation.
After the House Intelligence Committee finished its part of the impeachment inquiry, it fell to the Judiciary staff under Nadler's leadership to create and make the legal argument for impeaching Trump. It's likely that Nadler, who has a law degree from Fordham University, will take up that mantle during the Senate trial.
Zoe Lofgren
Lofgren is an impeachment veteran: She was a staffer on the House Judiciary Committee during the Nixon impeachment proceedings, and later voted on the Clinton impeachment as a congresswoman.
The California Democrat has drawn on those experiences in arguing for Trump's impeachment. She graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law and briefly practiced immigration law before entering politics.
Hakeem Jeffries
The former litigator at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison is a powerful figure as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. Jeffries was tasked with introducing Pelosi on the House floor last year for her election as speaker, and as a member of the Judiciary Committee questioned witnesses on the merits of impeachment.
Seen as a future leader for Democrats, Jeffries' appointment as a House manager will help him cement that legacy as he argues for Trump's removal on the Senate floor.
Jason Crow
The former Holland & Hart litigator also served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division and as an Army Ranger. He is also a member of the Armed Services Committee. Crow received his law degree from the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law.
Sylvia Garcia
Garcia was the director and presiding judge of the Houston Municipal System before joining Congress. She was also the first woman and Hispanic person elected to the Harris County Commissioner's Court.
Val Demings
The Florida congresswoman is a 27-year veteran of the Orlando Police Department, where she was the chief of police before retiring. She is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Judiciary Committee.
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