The United States House Democrats have announced two impeachment charges against President Donald Trump. The two impeachment charges as tabled by the Democrats are ‘abusing power and obstructing Congress’.
The two impeachment charges are coming a few days after Democrats submitted impeachment articles to House Judiciary Committee, as the Democratic-controlled House is expected to vote on the charges, or articles of impeachment, next week.
While the House is certain to impeach Trump, the Senate led by the Republican will be doing everything to stop that from their own end, and President Trump is counting on them to survive this ‘hurricane Pelosi’…lol…as he is already the fourth US president in history to face impeachment.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, flanked by the chairmen of the impeachment inquiry committees, declared at the U.S. Capitol that thy were upholding their solemn oath to defend the Constitution. Voting is expected in a matter of days in the Judiciary Committee and by Christmas in the full House.
In outlining the charges, Democrats said they had no choice but to act because Trump has shown a pattern of behaviour that, if left unchecked, poses risks to the democratic process ahead of the 2020 election.
″Our president holds the ultimate public trust. When he betrays that trust and puts himself before country, he endangers the Constitution; he endangers our democracy; he endangers our national security,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., the Judiciary chairman, announcing the charges before a portrait of George Washington. “Our next election is at risk. … That is why we must act now.”
Chairman Adam Schiff of the Intelligence Committee said, “We stand here today because the president’s abuse of power leaves us with no choice.”
Trump’s allies immediately plunged into the fight that will extend into the new year. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said Democrats are trying to “overthrow″ the administration.
Campaign manager Brad Parscale said Democrats are “putting on this political theatre because they don’t have a viable candidate for 2020 and they know it.” The president’s son, Eric, embraced his father’s penchant for name-calling, assailing Pelosi and “her swamp creatures.”
As the House chairmen arrived at a closed-door meeting of the chamber’s Democrats after the announcement, they were greeted with applause.
The outcome appears increasingly set as the House prepares for voting, as it has only three times in history against a U.S. president. Approval of the charges would send them to the Senate in January, where the Republican majority would be unlikely to convict Trump.
Mr Trump has denied wrongdoing and calls the inquiry a hoax. The White House has refused to participate in the hearings in the House because it says the process is unfair.
Mr Trump attacked the impeachment effort in a Twitter post early on Tuesday, saying to impeach a president when the country has such a strong economy “and most importantly, who has done NOTHING wrong, is sheer Political Madness!”
After the charges were announced, Mr Trump added: “Nadler just said that I ‘pressured Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 Election.’
“Ridiculous, and he knows that is not true. Both the President & Foreign Minister of Ukraine said, many times, that there ‘WAS NO PRESSURE.’ Nadler and the Dems know this, but refuse to acknowledge!”
Ms Pelosi launched the impeachment probe after a whistleblower reported concerns over a July 25 telephone call in which Mr Trump sought help from Mr Zelenskiy to investigate Mr Biden, a leading contender in the Democratic race to challenge Mr Trump in next November’s election.
That led to weeks of investigation and hearings in the House. Committee leaders met with Ms Pelosi following the last scheduled impeachment hearing on Monday evening.
Democrats say their investigation shows Mr Trump withheld $391 million in military aid and the White House meeting to get Mr Zelenskiy to investigate Mr Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as a debunked theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 US election.
Republicans argue Mr Trump did nothing improper in his call with Mr Zelenskiy and say there is no direct evidence he withheld aid or a White House meeting in exchange for a favour.
The Judiciary Committee would need to give 24 hours’ notice before meeting to vote on whether to forward the articles to the full House for a final impeachment vote by the chamber.