WASHINGTON — The historic new phase in the impeachment inquiry moves forward to the House Judiciary Committee. That Committee is holding public hearings for scholars and presentations for more evidence into the Ukraine events at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.

This comes as Speaker Nancy Pelosi directs the Committee to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. 

In the Judiciary Committee’s first hearing, three of the four scholars believed the president sacrificed the nation’s interest in favor of his own. The fourth said the president’s actions in Ukraine are not impeachable. 

The hearing went on for over six hours; and while some new California lawmakers are taking part in the proceedings’ next phase, others have been a part of the inquiry since the very beginning.

One is Ontario Democrat, Representative Norma Torres. She says she has been watching closely. She played a key role at the start of the impeachment proceedings as one of the few lawmakers who marked up the resolution that led to the formal start in the impeachment inquiry.

While some Republicans believe the inquiry is being rushed, Torres said, she thinks this process should be moving faster.

As Torres looked back on her part on the Rules Committee, she said the proceeding should be far more advanced than where it is now. 

“I think the process has been a bit slow primarily because of the difficulty of finding the witnesses and getting the witnesses to come forward,” said Rep. Torres. 

Torres said she’s proud of the House Judiciary Committee and commended California’s Stanford University scholar, Pamela Karlan, for taking part in the hearing. 

“She’s very well articulated, to her point, she was very well prepared,” said Torres. 

Torres blames the President for any delays, pointing to ‘obstruction of justice,' a similar argument made by some scholars in Wednesday’s testimonies. 

But law expert from George Washington University, Jonathan Turley said none of the president’s actions are impeachable. 

“This is a facially incomplete and inadequate record in order to impeach a president,” said Turley, 

Turley said this is the only impeachment that doesn’t have compelling evidence of the commission of a crime. 

Torres said whichever way someone may look upon the impeachment, one thing is certain: “Whether you love or hate this president, this is a very, very difficult process to go through.”

Torres’ initial role will come full circle when this process leads to the impeachment vote in the House.