Report details Trump’s ‘significant misconduct’

President Donald Trump seriously misused the power of his office for personal political gain by seeking foreign intervention in the American election process and obstructed Congress by stonewalling efforts to investigate, a House report released yesterday concluded in findings that form the basis for possible impeachment.

The 300-page report from Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee does not render a judgment on whether Trump’s actions stemming from a July 25 phone call with Ukraine rise to the level of ‘‘high crimes and misdemeanours’’ warranting impeachment. That is for Congress to decide. But it details ‘‘significant misconduct’’ by the president that the House Judiciary Committee will begin to assess today.

‘‘The evidence that we have found is really quite overwhelming that the president used the power of his office to secure political favours and abuse the trust American people put in him and jeopardise our security,’’ Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said.

‘‘It was a difficult decision to go down this road, because it’s so consequential for the country,’’ he said. But ‘‘the president was the author of his own impeachment inquiry by repeatedly seeking foreign help in his election campaigns.’’

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said, ‘‘Chairman Schiff and the Democrats utterly failed to produce any evidence of wrongdoing by President Trump.’’ She said the report ‘‘reads like the ramblings of a basement blogger straining to prove something when there is evidence of nothing.’’

The ‘‘Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report’’ provides a detailed account of a shadow diplomacy run by Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, resulting in layers of allegations that can be distilled into specific acts, like bribery or obstruction, and the more amorphous allegation that Trump abused his power by putting his interests

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, yesterday. above the nation. Based on two months of investigation sparked by a still-anonymous government whistleblower’s complaint, the report relies heavily on testimony from current and former US officials.

The House intelligence panel voted later yesterday, in a party-line tally, to send the document to the Judiciary Committee. Republicans defended the president in their own 123-page rebuttal, claiming Trump never intended to pressure Ukraine when he asked for a ‘‘favour’’ — investigations of Democrats and Joe Biden. They say the military aid the White House was withholding was not being used as leverage, as Democrats claim — and besides, was ultimately released. – AP