Democrats have accused President Donald Trump of “multiple federal crimes” including criminal bribery and wire fraud in a new report released on Monday morning that explains the two articles of impeachment that the House of Representatives is expected to approve on Wednesday, making Trump only the third US president ever impeached.
The US senate will hold a trial subsequently, in January, to remove Trump from office or acquit him, and let him continue. Indian American lawmakers Pramila Jayapal and Raja Krishnamoorthi could be among “impeachment managers” appointed by House Democrats to argue their case.
For now, events are moving rapidly towards the Wednesday vote, in which Democrats are expected to impeach Trump in a party-line vote, with a few defections. One Democrat, who represents a swing district, is reportedly considering voting “no”, and joining the Republican party (there are no anti-defection laws in the US).
The report released on Monday will accompany the articles of impeachment that will be voted upon later this week. It gave a detailed explanation of the two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — and included a dissenting note from Republicans.
“President Trump’s abuse of power encompassed both the constitutional offense of ‘Bribery’ and multiple federal crimes,” said the report by the Democratic-led House judiciary committee, which voted last week to advance the articles of impeachment for a House vote. “He has betrayed the national interest, the people of this Nation, and should not be permitted to be above the law. It is therefore all the more vital that he be removed from office.”
{{/usCountry}}“President Trump’s abuse of power encompassed both the constitutional offense of ‘Bribery’ and multiple federal crimes,” said the report by the Democratic-led House judiciary committee, which voted last week to advance the articles of impeachment for a House vote. “He has betrayed the national interest, the people of this Nation, and should not be permitted to be above the law. It is therefore all the more vital that he be removed from office.”
{{/usCountry}}The report also made clear that “although President Trump’s actions need not rise to the level of a criminal violation to justify impeachment, his conduct here was criminal”.
At the heart of the impeachment case against Trump is that he abused the power of his office when he forced Ukraine to investigate his political rivals by withholding $391 million in military aid and aWhite House meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and that he obstructed Congress investigation into it by blocking officials from testifying and refusing to turn over documents relevant to the probe.
In a dissenting note in the report, Republicans of the judiciary committee argued that the evidence presented by Democrats was “paltry”. Doug Collins, the committee’s senior-most Republican, wrote, “The case is not only weak but dangerously lowers the bar for future impeachments.”