All about Trump’s impeachment inquiry
With impeachment looming, could Donald Trump find himself out of a job?
IMAGINE it. You’re the leader of a small European country and you get a phone call from the president of the United States, asking you for a “favour”. He wants you to help dig up dirt on his main political rival so he can win the next presidential election. How can you say no? Especially when he holds the key to unlocking $400 million (R6 billion) in military aid your country desperately needs. It’s this scenario that has landed US president Donald Trump in a whole heap of trouble. Critics say it’s an open-and-shut case of bribery. But the president insists it’s all a huge misunderstanding. Is he telling the truth? This is what politicians in the US House of Representatives are trying to figure out. If they decide Trump overstepped the mark it’s likely he’ll become the third president in US history (after Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998) to be impeached, which means he’ll face a trial in the American senate. And if found guilty he’ll lose his job. With stakes so high it’s little wonder the world is on tenterhooks. As witnesses have testified before the impeachment inquiry, the story that’s emerging sounds like something straight out of the TV series House of Cards. Death threats, secret computer servers, diplomatic intrigue, cover ups – these are some of the bombshell revelations that have come to light. Trump is no stranger to trouble. Allegations of political collusion with the Russians have dogged him ever since he won the 2016 election, and now he stands accused of doing something similar with the Ukrainians to give him a boost in next year’s polls. Will he be able to survive or has his luck run out?
‘Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret’