I did nothing wrong, insists Trump as House nears impeachment vote
THE House of Representatives has pressed towards historic votes to impeach President Donald Trump.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has the Democratic votes needed to make Trump just the third US President to be impeached, exercising what she called “one of the most solemn powers granted to us by the constitution”.
“This is a democracy defining moment,” said representative Jim McGovern, the chairman of the rules committee.
“This is about protecting our democracy.”
Trump tweeted his outrage: “Can you believe that I will be impeached today by the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, AND I DID NOTHING WRONG! A terrible thing.”
As soon as the session opened, Republicans tried, and failed, to halt what one member called the “unfair, rigged” process.
The rare undertaking to impeach a President, set to unfold over more than six hours of debate, has split the politicians in Congress much the way Americans have different views of Trump’s unusual presidency and the articles of impeachment against him.
No Republicans were expected to vote for impeachment as the President’s party stands firmly with Trump, and the Senate, where the Republican party has the majority, is expected to acquit him in a trial next year.
“Very sadly, the facts have made clear that the President abused his power for his own personal, political benefit and that he obstructed Congress,” Ms Pelosi wrote to colleagues ahead of the vote.
“In America, no one is above the law,” she added.
Republican representative Tom Cole called it “a very sad day”.
“Democrats have been searching for a reason to impeach President Trump since the day he was elected,” he said.
Trump sent a furious letter to Ms Pelosi on Tuesday denouncing the “vicious crusade” against him, but acknowledged he was powerless to stop the expected outcome.
He implored Americans to
“read the transcript,” but the facts of his July phone call with the Ukraine President were largely confirmed by witnesses in the impeachment inquiry.
Trump asked Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Democrats and his 2020 political rival Joe Biden.
At the time, the newly elected Ukraine leader was hoping for a coveted White House visit to showcase his standing with the US. He was also counting on nearly $400m (£303m) in military aid as his country confronted Russia.
The question for members of Congress, and Americans, is whether those actions, and the White House’s block on officials testifying for the house investigation, are impeachable offences.
Republicans started offering the first of several procedural motions expected during the day to halt or delay the proceedings.
“So we can stop wasting America’s time on impeachment, I move that the House do now adjourn,” said representative Andy Biggs, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
It was defeated on a party-line vote. Republicans then tried to force a vote condemning the actions of Democratic committee leaders, based on objections to the way the Democrats conducted hearings leading to yesterday’s votes. That also went nowhere on a party-line vote.
From Alaska to Florida, tens of thousands of Americans marched in support of impeachment on Tuesday.
They carried signs saying “Save the Constitution — Impeach !!!! ” and “Criminal-in-Chief ”.
Portraying himself as a blameless victim, Trump has compared the impeachment inquiry to the “Salem witch trials”.
Asked if he bore responsibility for the proceedings, he said: “No, I don’t think any. Zero.”