Congressman Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump could be finished by the end of 2020.
Congressman Himes, one of the highest-ranking Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, said that he believed “the speaker of the House [Nancy Pelosi] would like to get this wrapped up by the end of the year,” adding that he thinks “that’s probably possible.”
Himes also claimed that Democrats are not withholding any information from Republicans, despite numerous Republican members confirming that this is the case.
He also attempted to compare this ongoing impeachment inquiry to the impeachments carried out against former presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, saying that both of those cases involved special prosecutors. Although there was a special counsel investigation into President Trump by former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the investigation ended earlier this year, exonerating President Trump of all claims of “Russian collusion” in the 2016 election, as well as no evidence of obstruction of justice.
The ongoing impeachment probe is based on unsubstantiated claims that President Trump tried to pressure the government of Ukraine to investigate the suspicious business dealings of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
However, multiple key figures – including the president and foreign minister of Ukraine, as well as former United States representative for Ukrainian negotiations Kurt Volker – have insisted that there was no such pressure on Ukraine by President Trump. President Trump eventually released the transcript of a phone call between himself and the Ukrainian president, confirming that there was no “quid pro quo” agreement or any other form of wrongdoing.