WE WILL IMPEACH TRUMP
President could face trial in weeks as rivals prepare ‘abuse’ charges
DONALD Trump will now almost certainly be impeached over his attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival.
The senior Democrat in Congress Nancy Pelosi yesterday announced that charges will be drawn up against the President for alleged abuse of power.
The historic step takes the war in Washington to a new level of ferocity and Mr Trump was quick to react.
In typically bullish fashion, he goaded his rivals, writing on Twitter: ‘They have gone crazy. Therefore I say, if you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair trial... and so that our country can get back to business. We will win!’
Mrs Pelosi told colleagues in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives to draft impeachment charges against him.
He could now be charged before Christmas with ‘ high crimes and misdemeanours’.
Speaking in a televised statement, she accused Mr Trump of abusing his power and compared him to King George III, against whose rule the American colonies rebelled in forming the United States in 1776.
Mr Trump had ‘abused his power for his own personal, political benefit’ and ‘seriously violated the Constitution’, she said.
‘Allowing him to continue unchallenged would come at ‘the peril of our republic’. Mrs Pelosi said: ‘Our democracy is what is at stake. The President leaves us no choice but to act because he is trying to corrupt, once again, the election for his own benefit.’
She added: ‘ The President has engaged in abuse of power, undermining our national security and jeopardising the integrity of our elections.’
Mrs Pelosi said America’s Founding Fathers put in place the means to impeach a president because ‘they feared the prospect of a king-president corrupted by foreign influence’.
She did not say when the House of Representatives would vote or whether the impeachment will confine itself to dealings with Ukraine.
The facts of Mr Trump’s alleged wrongdoing involving Ukraine ‘are uncontested’, she said. Democrats say he withheld £300million in military aid and a White House invitation to Ukraine’s president unless the country agreed to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, over corruption claims. Mr Biden Sr is a leading Democrat contender to run against the President in next year’s election.
The President has denied any wrongdoing. The White House said yesterday that Mr Trump was looking forward to a fair trial in the Senate, where Republicans have a majority.
Mrs Pelosi had resisted calls to impeach Mr Trump for months, fearing it might backfire if it fails or voters decide the Democrats are acting out of vindictiveness.
The usually composed Mrs Pelosi reacted angrily yesterday after a reporter asked if she ‘hates’ Mr Trump as she walked off the podium.
‘I don’t hate anybody,’ she snapped as she returned to the microphone. ‘ I pray for the President all the time. So don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that.’
Mr Trump accused Mrs Pelosi on Twitter of having a ‘nervous fit’, adding: ‘She says she “prays for the President”. I don’t believe her, not even close.’
He said the Democrats had ‘gone crazy’ and ‘ now hang their hats on two totally appropriate ( perfect) phone calls with the Ukrainian president’.
Earlier this week, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee released a 300page report, saying its investigation ‘uncovered a monthslong effort by President Trump to use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election’. It also made clear the President and his White House have obstructed the impeachment inquiry by blocking witnesses from complying with subpoenas requesting testimony or certain documents.
‘Our democracy is at stake’