The Democrats last night announced they will begin impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump , making him only the fourth US president in history to face the move.
In an historic press conference, Nancy Pelosi, the most senior Democrat in the House of Representatives, said that it was time to move ahead with an impeachment inquiry.
She said the trigger wasclaims that Mr Trump held back aid to Ukrainein the hope its leader would investigate Joe Biden, the former US vice president who is seeking the White House in 2020.
The US president had tried to head off the move at the last minute, promising to release the transcript of a controversial call he had with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president.
But it was not enough. Ms Pelosi said: “The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law. ”
She argued that Mr Trump’s alleged behavior in the Ukraine scandal amounted to a “betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections”.
“Therefore, today, I am announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.”
Mrs Pelosi added: “The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution, especially when the president says ‘I can do whatever I want.’
“This week the president has admitted to asking Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically. The president must be held accountable. No-one is above the law.”
She said approval of impeachment was a “Constitutional power of the utmost gravity “but it was the” responsibility “of the House to uphold the republic.
Mr Trump hit back on Twitter within minutes of the announcement, questioning why Democrats had not waited for the release of the call transcript and declaring: “PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!
They never even saw the transcript of the call. A total Witch Hunt!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) (September) , 2019
It came after momentum for impeachment steadily increased throughout Tuesday as Democrats who had previously opposed the move switched their position over the Ukraine saga.
By mid-afternoon 160 Democrat members of the House, out of a total of 235, backed impeachment, some talking about how the “dam has broken”.
Joe Biden, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, joined the calls.
He said that Congress would have “no choice but to initiate impeachment” if Mr Trump did not comply with its demands over the scandal.
Gregory Meeks, Democrat congressman, was among those who switched from opposing impeachment to supporting the move over the Ukrainian scandal, said: “The American people can now see the dam is broken.”
The latest row revolves around whether Mr Trump held back hundreds of millions of dollars worth of aid to Ukraine in an attempt to pressure its leader to investigate Mr Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who once worked for a Ukrainian gas company.
Awhistleblower in the US intelligence community issued a complaint that reportedly was about a “promise” Mr Trump made to a fellow world leader about Ukraine.
However, the most senior US intelligence official has refused to share details with Congress.
The White House is preparing to release the whistleblower complaint by the end of the week, an administration official told Politico.
The White House will also most likely allow the whistleblower to meet with congressional investigators, said the official.
The threat of impeachment overshadowed Mr Trump’s UN speech. Asked about the issue on arrival, Mr Trump appeared to admit that he had held back money from Ukraine, but explained he did so because European countries were not contributing enough.
On the prospect of impeachment, Mr Trump said: “I think it’s ridiculous. It’s a witch hunt, I’m leading in the polls. They have no idea how they stop me. The only way they can try is through impeachment. ”
He added that impeachment could benefit him, saying: “If she [Ms Pelosi] does that, they all say that’s a positive for me in the election.”
Ms Pelosi said: “This is a very serious and a class of its own … This isn’t about politics.”
Six congressional committees have already been conducting ad hoc investigations of Mr Trump .
Mrs Pelosi directed the Democrat chairs of all six committees to now proceed “under the umbrella of [an] impeachment inquiry”.
Their findings will all be passed to the House judiciary committee, which will decide whether to formulate articles of impeachment.
If they do, the full House would vote on the articles. If the articles pass the House a trial of Mr Trump would be held in the US senate, where two-thirds of members would need to back it.
Chris Stewart, a Republican congressman, said: “I think the Democrats are going to regret this. They didn’t wait 24 hours to read the transcript. The American people are going to read this and roll their eyes. “
Only three past presidents – Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton – have been the subject of impeachment proceedings. Mr Johnson and Mr Clinton were impeached by the House but ultimately acquitted, serving out their remaining terms. Mr Nixon resigned before a House vote.
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