Trump impeachment: US President impeached for abuse of office and obstruction of Congress
US President Donald Trump entered the history books after his impeachment that happened on Wednesday 18/12/2019. He is the third President in US history to have been impeached by the United States House of Representatives.
Trump was voted out largely along party lines for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress about his dealings with Ukraine.
His impeachment may cause a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate in January 2020.
“It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions, make impeachment necessary,” House Speaker, Pelosi said as she “solemnly and sadly” opened the House debate on impeachment“he gave us no choice.”
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“The president is an ongoing threat to our national security, and the integrity of our national security, and the integrity of our elections, the basis of our democracy,” Pelosi added.
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The house spent Wednesday debating the two impeachment articles on the House floor. In the first article, Trump was accused of abusing office by leveraging the federal government and taxpayer money for his personal and political benefits.
And in the second article, Trump was accused of obstructing the congressional inquiry into his actions on Ukraine.
Republicans uniformly accused Democrats of finding an excuse to impeach Trump, but Democrats insisted that Trump’s actions regarding Ukraine call for impeachment.
Trump was then impeached after the two articles were passed. The article on abuse of power passed 230 to 197, and 229 to 198 on obstruction.
Despite the impeachment, Trump was not removed from office. The Senate will determine whether to remove him or not.
During the impeachment exercise, Trump who has denied the claims was busy addressing a rally in Michigan.
“Tonight the House of Democrats are trying to nullify the ballots of tens of millions of patriotic Americans,” Trump told the crowd.
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Also, Trump together with his Republicans allies termed the House’s impeachment enquiry a “sham” and a “witch-hunt”.
Trump on Tuesday sent an intense letter to House Democrats leaders, containing accusations of an attempted coup and declaring “War on American democracy”.
“This is not a solemn occasion. You have been wanting to do this ever since the gentleman (Trump) was elected,” said Representative Doug Collins, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.
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At the centre of the Democrats impeachment of Trump was a July 25 telephone call the president had with newly elected Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In the telephone conversation, Trump urged Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden, the former Vice President US and his son, Hunter, who was had served on the board of a Ukraine gas company.
Joe Biden who is the leading contender in the race for the Democratic nomination for 2020 presidential race, no evidence has been found pinning him in all the allegations.
Further, Trump conditioned a White House meeting for Zelenskyy on Ukraine launching an investigation on a debunked conspiracy theory on Ukraine indicating that Ukraine, not Russia, according to eye witness tampered with the 2016 US elections.
US Constitution on Impeachment
A President who has been impeached by the House can still serve as president. The earlier two impeached US Presidents; Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, were both acquitted by the Senate.
The Constitution says the Senate has to hold a trial, with the senators appearing as jurors, House lawmakers serving as prosecutors known as managers presided over by the Chief Justice of the United States.
Senators must take a public vote, and two-thirds of those present must agree on whether to convict the president and thus remove him from office.
But the Constitution doesn’t lay out exactly how to hold a trial. During the Impeachment process, House Republicans displayed remarkable unity, none of them voted for impeachment.
Outside Congress, Trump remains popular among his base. Against that backdrop, it’s hard to see mass defections among Senate Republicans to override their party’s voter’s and kick the president out of office.
