House Democrats recently elected Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) to fill their top spot on the House Judiciary Committee by a wide margin -- and there are signs that it's because they think he's best suited to prosecute an impeachment case against President Donald Trump.
As the Washington Post's Paul Kane writes, Nadler's selection to represent the Democrats as ranking member on the Judiciary Committee is "the clearest sign yet of how seriously House Democrats consider the possibility of a full-blown constitutional showdown with Trump."
Even though most Democrats won't publicly talk about impeaching Trump should they retake control of the House in 2018, Kane notes that Nadler's background makes him an ideal choice to lead any impeachment charge. In particular, he says that Nadler is a constitutional law expert who also battled Trump in the 1980s to impede his efforts to develop on New York's Upper West Side.
"There is nobody better prepared, if the president messes around with the Constitution, to handle it than Jerry Nadler," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a Nadler ally.
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), meanwhile, explained that Nadler was in the best position to make "the constitutional argument" against Trump's presidency -- and he said it was a sign that Democrats needed to "prepare for the coming storm."
