Must Read In historic moment, U.S. House impeaches Donald Trump for abuse of power

[webfact]

In historic moment, U.S. House impeaches Donald Trump for abuse of power

By Susan Cornwell, Richard Cowan and David Morgan

 

U.S. President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn as he departs for campaign travel to Michigan from the White House in Washington, U.S., December 18, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump became the third U.S. president to be impeached on Wednesday, as the House of Representatives formally charged him with abuse of power in a historic step that will inflame partisan tensions across a deeply divided America.

 

The Democratic-led House passed the abuse of power article of impeachment on a largely party-line 230-197 vote. The House then proceeded with a vote on a second article of impeachment charging him with obstruction of Congress.

 

The House action sets the stage for a trial next month in the Republican-controlled Senate - friendlier terrain for Trump - on whether to convict him and remove him from office. As the House voted, Trump was addressing a rally in Battle Creek, Michigan.

 

No president in the 243-year history of the United States has been removed from office by impeachment. That would require a two-thirds majority in the 100-member Senate, meaning at least 20 Republicans would have to join Democrats in voting against Trump - and none have indicated they will.

 

Trump, who is seeking another four-year term in the November 2020 presidential election, has called the impeachment drive an "attempted coup" by Democrats seeking to nullify his 2106 election victory. The Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, has predicted there is "no chance" his chamber will remove Trump when it holds its trial.

 

The first of the articles accused Trump, 73, of abusing his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, as well as a discredited theory promoted by the president and beneficial to Russia that Democrats conspired with Ukraine to meddle in the 2016 election.

 

Democrats said Trump held back $391 million in security aid intended to combat Russia-backed separatists and a coveted White House meeting for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as leverage to coerce Kiev into interfering in the 2020 election by smearing Biden.

 

The second article accuses Trump of obstruction of Congress by directing administration officials and agencies not to comply with lawful House subpoenas for testimony and documents related to impeachment.

 

Trump has denied wrongdoing and called the impeachment inquiry, launched by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in September, a "witch hunt."

 

During a daylong debate before the vote, Pelosi read the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance and said: "We are here to defend democracy for the people."

 

"If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty. It is tragic that the president's reckless actions make impeachment necessary," Pelosi said.

 

As the debate unfolded, Trump on Twitter called the proceedings "AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA" and on his party. On the House floor, Republicans accused Democrats of seeking to use an unfair, rigged process to nullify the 2016 election.

 

"The matter before the House today is based solely on a fundamental hatred of our president. It's a sham, a witch hunt - and it's tantamount to a coup against the duly elected president of the United States," Republican Representative Mike Rogers said.

 

Republican Representative Mike Kelly compared the impeachment to the Japanese attack on Hawaii's Pearl Harbor in 1941, calling the House proceedings another "date that will live in infamy" - similar to the words Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt used to describe the raid that killed about 2,400 people and led to America's entry into World War Two.

 

POLARIZED COUNTRY

Trump's election has polarized the United States, dividing families and friends and making it more difficult for politicians in Washington to find middle ground as they try to confront pressing challenges like the rise of China and climate change.

 

The impeachment vote comes ahead of Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, which will pit him against the winner among a field of Democratic contenders, including Biden, who have repeatedly criticized Trump's conduct in office and promised to make it a key issue.

 

Reuters/Ipsos polls show that while most Democrats want to see him impeached, most Republicans do not. Televised hearings last month that were meant to build public support for impeachment appear to have pushed the two sides further apart.

 

The House vote on Wednesday was just the latest, but also unquestionably the biggest, in a string of controversies that have buffeted the turbulent presidency of the New York real estate mogul and former reality TV personality.

 

Central to the impeachment inquiry was a July 25 telephone call in which Trump asked Zelenskiy to investigate Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who had joined the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father was U.S. vice president.

 

Trump has accused the Bidens of corruption without offering evidence. They have denied wrongdoing.

 

A rough transcript of the call released by the White House showed Trump asking Zelenskiy, elected only three months earlier and eager for American support, to "do us a favour" and conduct the investigations in coordination with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

 

Giuliani in the prior months had engaged in a concerted effort to persuade Ukraine to carry out the investigations. Testimony before House committees showed that Giuliani helped engineer Trump's removal last May of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who was perceived as a roadblock to those investigations.

 

Impeachment is a remedy devised by the United States' founders, wary of a monarch on American soil after breaking away from Britain and King George III in the 18th century, to enable Congress to remove a president who has committed "high crimes and misdemeanors."

 

Only two previous presidents have been impeached. The House in 1998 impeached President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice arising from a sexual relationship he had with a White House intern, but the Senate acquitted him. The House impeached President Andrew Johnson in 1868, focused on his removal of the secretary of war, but he was acquitted by one vote in the Senate.

 

In 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned after the House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment in the Watergate corruption scandal but before the full House could pass them.

 

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell, Richard Cowan and David Morgan; Writing by Will Dunham and John Whitesides; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-19

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[Samui Bodoh]

Yeah!!!

 

I can't think of anyone who deserves it more.

 

Way to go, Mr Trump; you did it the old fashioned way, you earned it!

 

 

 

[TopDeadSenter]

Beyond farcical. This spells doom to the democrat party. I don't think anybody even has any idea why he is being impeached? Because Ambassador Sondland "presumed" there was quid pro quo? Just shocking how bad the democrat party has handled this and let down the American people.

 I trust in the judgement the American people will decide in November 2020. Roll on the Trump Train!!

 

[Jingthing]

The actual charges are just the tip of the iceberg of this President's impeachable offenses. The house did the right thing. The fact that the senate is gearing up to do the wrong thing didn't and shouldn't have influenced the house. As far as long term political impact regardless of any premature crowing or bravado nobody yet can possibly know. 

[Samui Bodoh]

I think that there is one factor to remember; the blockage of documents, testimony and documentary evidence by Trump ain't gonna last.

 

The simple fact is that there will be a Democratic President, likely in 2020 but in 2024 at the latest, and all the documents that the Trump Administration is hiding will come out; they are still on file, even if they are not being shown. Further, if anyone from the current Trump Administration wants to ever work in a Senate-confirmed position ever again (many of the current Trump staffers are young enough to do so, given the chance), then they will be asked questions under oath during their potential confirmation hearing(s).

 

Or, perhaps John Bolton's book will tell all.

 

The truth, as always, will get out. it is just a question of when.

 

This Impeachment will resonate for a loooooooong time.

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

The impeach-o-meter has maxed out at 100 percent. 

 

Well … it happened! Despite the combined effects of Robert Mueller’s deference to Congressional Democrats, Congressional Democrats’ fear of an electoral backlash, and attorney general William Barr’s totally shameless scale-tipping on his boss’s behalf, Donald Trump still managed to become the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. 

 

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/trump-impeached-will-likely-not-be-removed.html

[darksidedog]

Given what we know which has been unable to be adequately rebuffed by Mr. trumps supporters, the impeachment seems appropriate. I guess you can only take the <deleted> so much before you get your comeuppance. What concerns me most going forward is that the Republicans seem to have made up their mind BEFORE they have actually listened to the testimony. Putting party loyalty above loyalty to the truth is as disgraceful as the actions of Trump since he took office.

[sweatalot]

Looks like good time for little rocket man to go ahead with his destructive plans.

[ThreeEyedRaven]

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

U.S. House impeaches Donald Trump for abuse of power

If you knowingly collude with a foreign government to seek domestic political advantage over a rival, you deserve to be impeached. Very few with a fully functioning brain can deny what has happened, they just show their lack of moral fibre, when trying to defend the undefendable.

[Langsuan Man]

5 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Given what we know which has been unable to be adequately rebuffed by Mr. trumps supporters, the impeachment seems appropriate. I guess you can only take the <deleted> so much before you get your comeuppance. What concerns me most going forward is that the Republicans seem to have made up their mind BEFORE they have actually listened to the testimony. Putting party loyalty above loyalty to the truth is as disgraceful as the actions of Trump since he took office.

Exactly correct but they always seem to think that the US voter forgets, they sure didn't forget Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon

 

The voters are not going to forget that the Republicans did not offer one thing of substance in defense of Trump,  just a weak and ever changing procedural defense 

[zydeco]

If the Senate fails to remove him from office, the House should simply impeach him again. Then, Donald will be the first president eveh to have been impeached twice.

[TopDeadSenter]

8 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

What concerns me most going forward is that the Republicans seem to have made up their mind BEFORE they have actually listened to the testimony. Putting party loyalty above loyalty to the truth is as disgraceful as the actions of Trump since he took office.

I don't remember you voicing concerns when many in the democrat party wanted to impeach Trump pretty much straight after he won his election against Hillary? 

 

In May of 2017, Texas Rep. Al Green became the first Democrat in Congress to support impeaching President Donald Trump. Trump had, at the time, been in office for just four months.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/addybaird/al-green-first-democrat-impeachment-donald-trump

 

 The only constant is that there was no reason to impeach him back then, and none now. But thanks for uniting and galvanizing the GOP and their voters.

[thaibeachlovers]

30 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Yeah!!!

 

I can't think of anyone who deserves it more.

 

Way to go, Mr Trump; you did it the old fashioned way, you earned it!

 

 

 

So, he's impeached. So what? Bill Clinton was impeached- did it amount to anything?

The GOP learned from that impeachment loss and worked with Clinton to achieve stuff. Will the Dems learn the same lesson?

We'll find out next year when he wins re election.

 

Nothing to fear

2020 to 2024.

[Langsuan Man]

1 minute ago, TopDeadSenter said:

I don't remember you voicing concerns when many in the democrat party wanted to impeach Trump pretty much straight after he won his election against Hillary? 

 

In May of 2017, Texas Rep. Al Green became the first Democrat in Congress to support impeaching President Donald Trump. Trump had, at the time, been in office for just four months.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/addybaird/al-green-first-democrat-impeachment-donald-trump

 

 The only constant is that there was no reason to impeach him back then, and none now. But thanks for uniting and galvanizing the GOP and their voters.

Only the fringe has been united and galvanized

[Chomper Higgot]

3 minutes ago, zydeco said:

If the Senate fails to remove him from office, the House should simply impeach him again. Then, Donald will be the first president eveh to have been impeached twice.

The courts are deciding on the release of evidence and witnesses currently being withheld by Trump.

 

Do not rule outa second impeachment.

[thaibeachlovers]

16 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

The impeach-o-meter has maxed out at 100 percent. 

 

Well … it happened! Despite the combined effects of Robert Mueller’s deference to Congressional Democrats, Congressional Democrats’ fear of an electoral backlash, and attorney general William Barr’s totally shameless scale-tipping on his boss’s behalf, Donald Trump still managed to become the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. 

 

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/trump-impeached-will-likely-not-be-removed.html

Unless he is convicted by the senate it's of no more consequence than Clinton's. Who even remembers that Clinton was impeached, and it doesn't make the slightest difference as to how he is remembered.

However, enjoy your moment of triumph, till the senate probably acquits him next year. I only say probably, because it's life, and sometimes life deals us the unexpected, but I'm 97% sure he'll be acquitted.

Nothing to fear.

[tomacht8]

More then 15000 false or misleading claims over 1,055 days are enough.

The US does not need a permanent liar and facts bender as his president.

[Just1Voice]

18 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Given what we know which has been unable to be adequately rebuffed by Mr. trumps supporters, the impeachment seems appropriate. I guess you can only take the <deleted> so much before you get your comeuppance. What concerns me most going forward is that the Republicans seem to have made up their mind BEFORE they have actually listened to the testimony. Putting party loyalty above loyalty to the truth is as disgraceful as the actions of Trump since he took office.

"Putting party loyalty above loyalty to the truth is as disgraceful..." That is exactly what the democrats did, and are doing

[Orton Rd]

Democrats are vindictive losers more interested in playing politics than helping run the USA, disgraceful waste of time and money like their Russian fantasy

[thaibeachlovers]

10 minutes ago, zydeco said:

If the Senate fails to remove him from office, the House should simply impeach him again. Then, Donald will be the first president eveh to have been impeached twice.

Are you forgetting the voters? does anyone think the voters will forgive a party that puts them through all this more than once? This isn't the Dems having a love in- it's congress and the congress is supposed to be looking after the country, not spending all it's time trying to remove a president when it could be done in the election.

In their obsession with Trump, the Dems seem to have forgotten why they get paid.

 

[Orton Rd]

8 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Unless he is convicted by the senate it's of no more consequence than Clinton's. Who even remembers that Clinton was impeached, and it doesn't make the slightest difference as to how he is remembered.

However, enjoy your moment of triumph, till the senate probably acquits him next year. I only say probably, because it's life, and sometimes life deals us the unexpected, but I'm 97% sure he'll be acquitted.

Nothing to fear.

He was the democratic sex offender president seducing young women in the oval office and who lied about it on camera right?

[Tug]

Well it finally happened get ready for the mother of all hissey fits major tantrum on the way he truly earned it to bad the republicans won’t protect our democracy the majority of us see him for what he is look for things to get really ugly going forward as if it wasent allready

[tomacht8]

5 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Are you forgetting the voters? does anyone think the voters will forgive a party that puts them through all this more than once? This isn't the Dems having a love in- it's congress and the congress is supposed to be looking after the country, not spending all it's time trying to remove a president when it could be done in the election.

In their obsession with Trump, the Dems seem to have forgotten why they get paid.

 

You really believe that an elected president can do and say what he wants. The US political system is not a dictatorship.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, Orton Rd said:

He was the democratic sex offender president seducing young women in the oval office and who lied about it on camera right?

In my recollection he wasn't impeached for sexual offences, but for lying outright to the public that he hadn't. Far as I know, there is nothing unlawful about committing adultery in the Oval Office.

"I did not have sex with that woman, it was the cigar that did it".

[Jingthing]

Huge news! 

Pelosi the most consequential woman politician in American history has signalled she will NOT be sending this to the senate for trial unless and until the senate passing rules that assure a reasonably fair trial.

[bendejo]

29 minutes ago, sweatalot said:

Looks like good time for little rocket man to go ahead with his destructive plans.

psssst!  I suspect Kim's latest ravings are a favor to DT to throw up a diversion to the impeachment.  Don't forget it's a standard tactic for DT to cover up something bad by doing something even worse.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, tomacht8 said:

You really believe that an elected president can do and say what he wants. The US political system is not a dictatorship.

They can lie to start a war, they can lie during a war, they can lie about sex with interns- yup, an elected president can pretty much do and say what he wants.

Problem with the US political system is that it gives too much power to one person. Better to have a figurehead president with no power, like Mary Robinson.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Huge news! 

Pelosi the most consequential woman politician in American history has signalled she will NOT be sending this to the senate for trial unless and until the senate passing rules that assure a reasonably fair trial.

Be a shame if it doesn't go to the senate. I'm looking forward to him being acquitted.

IMO she's hoping it won't go to the senate as it will be so embarrassing to the Dems when he is acquitted. It's even going to help him get re elected.

Nothing to fear.

[RichardColeman]

What's the point really ? He'll never get removed due to the way the American's houses and political system works, and it will just be wasted money that could have been used for better purposes.

[mogandave]

Yes, after a rigorous three year investigation the President was impeach because of a call he made a few months ago...

 

How funny is that?