US House on course to impeach president
Democrats have the votes to make Trump face trial
THE US House of Representatives has pressed towards historic votes to impeach President Donald Trump, arguing about the charges he faces and the legitimacy of the probe that brought Congress and the nation to this point.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has the Democratic votes needed to make Mr 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, as the proceedings began.
“This is about protecting our democracy.”
Mr 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 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 Mr Trump’s unusual presidency and the articles of impeachment against him.
According to a tally compiled by The Associated Press, Mr Trump was on track to be formally charged by a House majority.
No Republicans were expected to vote for impeachment as the president’s party stands firmly
HOUSE CALL: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi holds hands with Representative Debbie Dingell, left, as they walk to the chamber where the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives begins debating the impeachmentof President Donald Trump
with Mr 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.”
Republican
Representative
Tom Cole called it “a very sad day” with the partisan voting to come.
“Democrats have been searching for a reason to impeach President Trump since the day he was elected,” he said.
As the House gavelled the start, the House chaplain, the Rev Pat Conroy, opened the session with morning prayer.
“Help them, and help us all,” he said.
The president, who is expected
to depart later for a rally in the election battleground state of Michigan, fired off a furious letter to Ms Pelosi on Tuesday denouncing the “vicious crusade” against him but acknowledging he was powerless to stop the expected outcome.
Mr Trump implores 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. Mr 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, his country’s most important ally. He was also counting on nearly $400m (£303m) in military aid as his country confronts a hostile neighbour, Russia.