WASHINGTON _ There's no guarantee of a fair U.S. election in 2020 if President Donald Trump isn't impeached, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said on Sunday.
On NBC's "Meet the Press," Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, said it was a "matter of urgency" to deal with the president's pattern of behavior ahead of the next election.
Asked if the U.S. would have a fair election if Trump is acquitted, Nadler said "I don't know. The president, based on his past performance, will do everything he can to make it not a fair election. And that is part of what gives us the urgency to proceed with this impeachment."
In a separate interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Nadler said Trump may try to "rig" the 2020 election. "We have got to act with dispatch," he said.
Judiciary Committee Democrats are working this weekend, and by Thursday could begin to draft the articles of impeachment that will shape debate in a Senate trial. The next formal step is a hearing on Monday where counsels for both parties on the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees will lay out the findings of the investigations.
Nadler said on NBC that wasn't ready to decide how many articles of impeachment would be brought against Trump, and that Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have a role in that determination.
On Saturday, Nadler said that the current inquiry has raised "several issues of constitutional law" not considered during the cases of Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, respectively.
"The framers worst nightmare is what we are facing in this very moment," Nadler said in a statement attached to the 55-page majority staff report that reviewed the historical record on impeachment as envisaged by the U.S. Founders.
_With assistance from Billy House.
