[Washington Examiner] Supporters of President Trump say they are eager for House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to take the helm of impeachment proceedings this week, predicting he will harm the Democratic case against Trump.Republicans close to and within the White House say the New York Democrat is vulnerable to claims of hypocrisy and is prone to lash out in an unbecoming manner. The inaugural Nadler-led impeachment hearing on Wednesday, they said, will feature law professors unlikely to reveal new facts about Trump pushing Ukraine to investigate Democrats.
"We’ve been anxiously awaiting the moment that Nadler takes over the impeachment inquiry," said a Republican close to Trump. "After [House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam] Schiff, he’s the most incompetent and unlikable Democrat member. [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi was unhappy with Schiff’s performance. Wait until she sees Nadler in action."
Nadler has clashed with Trump since the 1980s and '90s, when Trump nicknamed a then-overweight Nadler "fat Jerry." The men fought particularly over Trump’s efforts to develop land on the West Side of Manhattan along the Hudson River.
Republicans say Nadler’s liabilities were on display this year when he repeatedly referred to former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks as "Ms. Lewandowski" in a closed-door hearing, in what they consider a deliberate sexual smear against Hicks and Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager.
And Republicans are dusting off Nadler’s words during the 1998 Bill Clinton impeachment. He said at the time "an impeachment of a president is an undoing of a national election," expressed concern about due process rights for Clinton, and opposed the release of Starr report material, despite now calling for the release of Mueller report redactions.