When compared to a criminal trial, the House acts as a grand jury and investigates the various possible offenses to determine whether they meet the standard of “high crimes and misdemeanors”. If they think that impeachable offenses have occurred, the House specifies “articles of impeachment”, which, if approved by a majority vote of the House, are sent to the Senate for trial.

Grand juries meet in closed session and witnesses are not allowed to be represented by counsel. The reason that grand juries meet in secret is to protect defendants if no charges are filed. There is an over abundance of lawyers in Congress, so the Republicans know damn well why things have been proceeding in the current manner. In the cases of Nixon and Clinton, special counsels did the preliminary investigations in secret, so the House was able to proceed to phase two, the formulation of articles of impeachment.

The Senate acts as the petit (trial) jury, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the judge for the Senate trial.

Pelosi stalled because there was no popular sentiment for impeachment. The Mueller Report shows clear examples of obstruction of justice, but the report is dense and filled with legalese. People didn’t read the report and our current so-called Attorney General, lied about the content of the report before it was released. With the Ukrainian affair the crime is open and obvious. People get it, so they support impeachment. Pelosi had no choice.

So… I’ve read several analysis of the Congressional Impeachment Hearings & the expected shenanigans by the GOP/republicans. They know their DOJ nor Senate will impeach Trump. I came across this analysis earlier by CNN and I think it really gets to the correct points.

https://twitter.com/CNNnewsroom/status/1190638067830255618

I also read an article on Lawfare (from May 21st 2019) regarding the impeachment powers the House actually has & how they can be used:

What Powers Does a Formal Impeachment Inquiry Give the House?

My understanding, given the current situation & the above articles/opinions is that as it stands, it’s all Kabuki Theater, but for different reasons (between the GOP & Dem’s). The Dem’s want it known that Trump did indeed break the rules & possibly the law, beyond any doubt. In which case, I can understand why Pelosi wanted to wait until next year to start the process, so it will be relatively fresh in the minds of Voters. Doing it now, is too soon for that, but her hand was forced (by GOP and Dem’s). The only real hope now, is that they can also uncover sufficient evidence of crimes that can be acted upon by a *friendly* State DOJ. The GOP, of course, want to obfuscate & blur the lines, and make the Dem’s look weak & ineffective. 🤔🤷🏾‍♂️

Real estate is the easiest way of laundering money there is. Casinos aren’t bad for smaller amounts, but if you have millions involved, buying a condo is the easiest path to the “rinse cycle”.

Giuliani is working for Trump knowing that Trump is a wholly owned subsidiary of multiple ‘families’, both foreign and domestic. With his credit history where else would Trump find funding?

I found and restored your comment.

https://twitter.com/gregolear/status/1187679439196426242