Democrats announce two articles of impeachment against Trump
Donald Trump will face charges for abuse of power and obstruction of justice.
Donald Trump is poised to be the third president in United States history to be impeached, after Democrats announced on Tuesday that they have drafted two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and another for obstruction of justice.
House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler announced the articles of impeachment at a news conference, saying that Trump “compromised national security and threatened the integrity of our elections” by running a pressure campaign to force Ukraine to investigate his political rivals for personal gain.
“When he betrays that trust and puts himself before country he endangers the Constitution, he endangers our democracy, and he endangers our national security,” Nadler (D-NY) said, saying that Trump’s actions amount to “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
“We must be clear, no one, not even the president, is above the law,” said Nadler, who was flanked by the chairs of the other House committees who were investigating Trump.
Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, articulated why Democrats feel articles of impeachment can’t wait. Schiff (D-CA) said that courts take months to rule on Trump’s obstruction and that continuing to wait would let Trump continue to interfere in the 2020 election as the election marches on.
“The argument, ‘why don’t you just wait,’ amounts to this: Why don’t you just let him cheat in one more election? Why not let him just cheat one more time?” Schiff said.
The announcement is the culmination of a three-month-long investigation into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Trump withheld congressionally appropriated military aid to the U.S. ally, all in an effort to force the country’s leadership to announce investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee.
Democrats say the fact that Trump was using the power’s of the presidency to his own personal benefit is what earned him articles of impeachment.
The second article of impeachment, obstruction of justice, pertains to Trump’s efforts to block all witnesses from testifying and evidence from being rightfully turned over to House investigators. Trump ordered his aides not to testify, though some defied that order and testified anyway.
“We do not take this action lightly, but we have taken an oath to the Constitution, and unlike Trump, we understand that our duty is first and foremost to the Constitution,” Nadler said.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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