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A former White House ethics lawyer, Richard W. Painer has said people who oppose impeachment hearings probing the Trump presidency do not respect the U.S constitution. He said on Twitter, “It’s happening, Donald Trump is getting impeached. Anyone who doesn’t support Jerry Nadler and the work of his committee has no respect for the constitution”. It is noteworthy that Painer was chief ethics lawyer at the White House from 2005 to 2007, under George W Bush. The law professor has repeatedly called for Trump to face impeachment proceedings. Painter made the comments while sharing a clip of Jerry Nadler, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, quizzing a former White House official.

The Democrats are holding hearings to officially determine whether or not to impeach the president. Nadler has publicly struck a much more aggressive tone on impeachment than the Democratic leadership. The speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly rejected calls from Democrats to launch a formal impeachment attempt. The first hearing on the issue took place on Tuesday when the judiciary committee questioned the president’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski repeatedly refused to answer questions during the hearing, earning an angry rebuke from the committee chair.

Nadler said, “I think we should call this what it is: an absolute cover-up by the White House. Today’s cover-up is part of a pattern of the White House blocking congress”. The impeachment process would begin formally if a majority of members in the House voted to support an article of impeachment. At that point, the president would technically be impeached. Individual politicians, such as Brad Sherman, have filed articles but these have always failed at the voting stage. If Trump was impeached the issue would then move to the senate. The U.S Senate will then conduct a trial presided over by the Supreme Court‘s chief justice. So, if two-thirds of senators find the president guilty, he is removed and the vice president becomes the new U.S President.