"This is formal impeachment proceedings," he said, referring to his committee's investigation of Trump's possible crimes. "We are investigating all the evidence, and ... hopefully by the end of the year ... vote articles of impeachment to the House floor. Or we won't. That's a decision that we'll have to make. But that's exactly the process we're in right now."
This admission came the day after the Judiciary Committee filed suit against Trump's former White House counsel to compel his testimony.
This may be part of the reason that Trump went on an extended Twitter rant toward the end of the week, to keep Nadler's admission out of the headlines.
Nonetheless, this is a positive development because it gives the House stronger ammunition in its court proceedings to compel testimony and subpoena compliance. The Supreme Court has long held that Congress cannot be impeded in any impeachment proceedings, so a lower federal court cannot block testimony or subpoenas as Trump is attempting to do.
Of course, Trump's lawyers probably already know this. But they're almost certainly trying to run out the clock, hoping that the election happens before testimony happens or subpoenaed documents are supplied.
If they don't beat the clock, this could all blow up in Trump's face, with highly damaging revelations coming only months or weeks or even days before the election. The chance of that happening are high, because the election is still fifteen months away and federal courts aren't that slow with motion practice, even if a matter goes before the Supreme Court.
So 2020 could end up being a lot like 1974, the year that federal courts and the Supreme Court pulled the rug out from under Richard Nixon.
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