Trump incensed as impeachment looms
Donald Trump has accused Democrats of “violating” their oath of office ahead of his expected impeachment. The House of Representatives will today vote on two articles of impeachment – one relating to his alleged push to get Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, the Democrat he could face at the 2020 election, and the other ordering US government officials not to testify. He accused the Democrats of “declaring an open war on American democracy” in a furious six-page letter.
‘It is a terrible thing you are doing, but you will have to live with it, Not I!’
DONALD TRUMP last night accused the Democrats of “declaring an open war on American democracy” in a furious six-page letter published ahead of his expected impeachment in a historic vote today.
The US president accused Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House Speaker pushing the impeachment drive, and her party colleagues of “violating” their oath of office and “breaking” their allegiance to the constitution.
Mr Trump said the claim he had abused his power over the Ukraine scandal was a “disingenuous, meritless and baseless invention of your imagination”.
The president said that the drive to kick him from office had inflicted “great damage and hurt” on his family and involved less due process than the
Salem witch trials. “It is a terrible thing you are doing, but you will have to live with it, not I!” wrote Mr Trump, who predicted 100 years from now people will look back unkindly on the push.
The remarkable letter, released by the White House yesterday afternoon, laid bare the president’s fury at the Democratic Party’s attempt to pass two articles of impeachment against him.
The impeachment vote will be held today. Given the Democrats hold the majority in the House of Representatives, it is all but certain he will become the third US president in history to be impeached.
If the impeachment vote passes it will move over to the Senate, which will hold a trial in January about whether to remove Mr Trump from office.
That looks unlikely to happen given the Republicans hold the majority there. Mr Trump has refused to engage in the impeachment inquiry into his push to get Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, the Democrat he could face in the 2020 election, ordering US government officials not to testify.
But yesterday, apparently seething at the historic black mark that will be put against his legacy from the impeachment vote, Mr Trump released a signed letter marked for Ms Pelosi which took aim at his political opponents. “I write to express my strongest and most powerful protest against the partisan impeachment crusade being pursued by the Democrats in the House of Representatives,” Mr Trump began.
“This impeachment represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power by Democrat lawmakers, unequalled in nearly two and a half centuries of American legislative history.”
The letter – which amounts to the most complete defence Mr Trump has mounted against impeachment in his own name – went on to make substantive points dismissing the case against him.
The House will vote on two articles of impeachment – one for abuse of power in holding back almost $400 million (£305 million) in military aid to Ukraine while he sought the probe, the other for obstruction of Congress as it tried to investigate the scandal.
The obstruction of Congress article alleges Mr Trump ordered “without lawful cause or excuse” his government’s officials not to give testimony to the impeachment inquiry or hand over vital documents.
Mr Trump accused the Democrats of using impeachment because they cannot defeat him in the 2020 election, telling Ms Pelosi that “you and your party are desperate to distract from America’s extraordinary economy, incredible jobs boom, record stock market, soaring confidence, and flourishing citizens”. He added: “Your party simply cannot compete with our record.”
Mr Trump was handed a boost on the eve of the impeachment vote when it was widely reported that Jeff Van Drew, the Democrat congressman, would switch parties and vote against impeachment. “Congressman Jeff Van Drew is very popular in our great and very united Republican Party,” Mr Trump tweeted, previewing a defection not yet formalised.
Only two other presidents have been impeached. Andrew Johnson, who took over the presidency after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, was impeached in 1868 after being seen as too sympathetic to the defeated Confederacy. Bill Clinton was impeached after lying under oath about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky in 1998. Richard Nixon, who faced an impeachment push, resigned before a vote was held.