Nadler: A jury would convict Trump in ‘three minutes flat’

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that he is confident in the case against President Trump ahead of a vote on impeachment. 

“We have a very rock-solid case,” Nadler said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

“I think the case we have, if presented to a jury, would be a guilty verdict in about three minutes flat,” he added. 

The top Judiciary Democrat also dismissed Republicans’ “nonsense about hearsay evidence,” saying there is “considerable direct evidence.”

“And it ill behooves a president or his partisans to say you don’t have enough direct evidence when the reason we don’t have even more direct evidence is the president has ordered everybody in the executive branch not to cooperate with Congress in the impeachment inquiry, something that is unprecedented in American history and is a contempt of Congress by itself,” Nadler said.

“We have a very rock solid case,” @RepJerryNadler says about the House Democrats’ impeachment case. “The case we have if presented to a jury would be a guilty verdict in about three minutes flat.” https://t.co/TWeC2mhpgk #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/QCYqBEcK1G

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) December 8, 2019

{mosads}“The only testimony we have are from public spirited, patriotic people in the CIA, the Pentagon, the White House itself who came forward and defied the president’s orders and testified,” he added. 

Nadler said that if the president or Republicans had “any exculpatory evidence, they would have brought it forward.” 

He also said he would be rejecting the GOP witnesses as part of the next impeachment hearing, calling the requested witnesses “not relevant” to the allegations. For example, he said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), whom the Republicans have requested as a witness, did not witness any of the actions and therefore is not relevant to call as a witness. 

The Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Monday to receive presentations of evidence from investigators as it moves forward with the impeachment of Trump. 

Nadler said it is “possible” that the House will hold a vote on the articles of impeachment this week. 

He said the scope of the articles will not be decided until after Monday’s hearing.