NEW YORK _ Rep. Jerry Nadler will skip Monday's impeachment hearing as his wife battles pancreatic cancer.
The Manhattan liberal stalwart announced Sunday that he would remain by his wife's bedside in New York instead of returning to Capitol Hill as lawyers for President Donald Trump mount the first full day of their impeachment defense.
"I am sorry to miss some of the Senate Impeachment Trial, which is of critical importance to our democracy," Nadler said in a Sunday statement.
The House Judiciary Committee chairman previously stayed behind in New York for a day in December during the impeachment inquiry after his wife was diagnosed with the often fast-moving disease.
Nadler has been a lightning rod for Republicans in the impeachment trial. GOP senators howled in outrage when he accused them of participating in a cover up by opposing witnesses to Trump's misdeeds.
