material. that's one of the victories from this court ruling. the second, judge hal dismissed claims from the white house and congressional republicans that the impeachment inquiry is illegitimate because it has not been authorized in a formal house vote. the judge wrote even in cases of presidential impeachment, a house resolution has never, in fact, been required to begin an impeachment inquiry. republicans had claimed that the house judiciary committee cannot begin impeachment proceedings without a formal vote of the house and that even if it could, speaker nancy pelosi is not empowered to simply grant that authority to the judiciary committee. but judge howell rejected those argues writing these contentions are at worst red herrings, and at best, incorrect. leading off our discussion tonight are natasha bertrand, lisa graves, former staff member of the senate judiciary committee, and former deputy assistant attorney general under political and evan mcmullin, former cia operative and