GOP Rep Introduces Measure to Remove Jerry Nadler as Judiciary Chairman Over Impeachment Probe

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Capitol Hill on May 21, 2019. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

A Republican congressman has introduced a resolution to strip House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) of his panel post in a bid to put an end to his “rogue witch-hunt” to impeach President Donald Trump.

Lance Gooden (R-Texas) made the move on Sept. 24 after impeachment proceedings against Trump were formally backed Tuesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Gooden said in a release: “In recent days, Democrats have sanctimoniously declared their allegiance to the rule of law. I encourage them to follow those rules and hold Chairman Nadler accountable for breaking them.”

He added that Nadler’s actions went against the will of the House of Representatives, as it didn’t explicitly authorize his committee to begin impeachment proceedings. “This attempted coup against a duly elected, sitting president is unprecedented and must be stopped,” Gooden continued.

“I urge the majority to move immediately to have him stripped of his chairmanship and that any accomplices on the Judiciary Committee not be considered as a replacement.”

It comes as Pelosi on Sept. 24 announced that an inquiry into impeaching Trump is underway.

She alleged that Trump “seriously violated the Constitution,” saying that the House is “moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.”

She met on Sept. 24 with her caucus of House Democrats before the planned statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announces the House of Representatives will launch a formal inquiry to investigate whether to impeach U.S. President Donald Trump following a closed House Democratic caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 24, 2019. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Pelosi, until recently, had publicly resisted the move despite other top Democrats pushing for it in legal filings and in the media. The move by some Democrats to impeach the president was stalled after former special counsel Robert Mueller was unable to back up claims of collusion between Trump and Russia or obstruction of justice.

But recent claims published in The Wall Street Journal that Trump allegedly pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a July phone call to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, have emboldened them to continue.

On Sept. 24, Trump said he would release the transcript of his call with Zelensky. “I am currently at the United Nations representing our Country, but have authorized the release tomorrow of the complete, fully declassified and unredacted transcript of my phone conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

“You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time!”

Trump also said that the push for impeachment is part of the “greatest and most destructive witch hunt of all time.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that he will back Pelosi’s decision.

“I speak regularly with Leader Pelosi. I spoke to her last night and again twice this morning. As I’ve said before, I believe she is handling this appropriately and she has my support,” Schumer told reporters, according to The Hill.

Congressional Democrats, including (L-R) House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Finance Committee ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), walk out of the White House before talking with reporters following a meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington on April 30, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) also said the allegation against Trump was the final straw.

“I think the House has to initiate an impeachment inquiry as a means of securing the documents and witnesses necessary to understand the whole story and particularly the latest chapter involving Ukraine,” Durbin told reporters earlier on Sept. 24, reported The Hill.

Meanwhile, more than 180 House Democrats said they support launching an inquiry into impeachment charges.

House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sept. 24 said the person who filed a complaint against Trump about the July 25 phone call wants to meet with Congress.

On Twitter, he announced that he was “informed by the whistleblower’s counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI as to how to do so.”

“We‘re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this week,” Schiff said.

Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.