US House Majority Votes to Impeach Trump

A majority of members of the US House of Representatives found two charges against Donald Trump in the Ukraine case valid. With the House of Representatives resolution, Trump’s impeachment has been forwarded to the Senate for final review.

Despite Trump’s angry reactions and a six-page combative letter, the US House of Representatives session to discuss and vote on the impeachment of the president took place as scheduled on Wednesday, December 27 (December 18).

Given that the majority of House seats are held by members and affiliates of the Democratic Party, as predicted, 230 representatives voted on the first charge of abuse of power against Donald Trump. 197 representatives did not find this charge against Trump valid.

Regarding the second charge of obstruction of Congress, 229 voted in favor and 198 voted against.

The House of Representatives consists of 435 voting representatives from 50 US states and six non-voting observer representatives. Each faction needs at least 218 seats to hold the majority, which the Democrats achieved in elections last November.

Wednesday’s session was held to review two charges against Donald Trump regarding abuse of power and obstruction of congressional investigations in the Ukraine case.

Trump’s spokesperson, Stephanie Grisham, called the result of the House vote “a turning point in one of the most shameful episodes in American history.”

According to the White House, Trump is confident that unlike the House, the Senate will hold a fair trial and he will be completely acquitted.

Republicans hold the majority in the Senate and this chamber must also vote on the impeachment.

Trump has been accused of pressuring Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, to conduct investigations into Joe Biden, his likely rival in the upcoming presidential election, and his son, and for this purpose delaying the delivery of Washington’s military aid to Kyiv.

Obstructing investigations and intimidating witnesses are other charges against Trump. He has also been accused of publishing several tweets during the testimony of Marie Yovanovitch, former US ambassador to Ukraine, at the House impeachment hearing (November 16), which were assessed as intended to discredit and intimidate the witness in this case.

Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House Intelligence Committee who presided over the impeachment hearing with Marie Yovanovitch present, accused Trump of attempting to intimidate witnesses in the case by reading his tweets.

“Coup” Accusation Against Democratic Representatives

Trump issued a six-page letter yesterday (Tuesday, December 26) to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and other Democratic members of the chamber, calling his impeachment process illegal, a war against American democracy, and an attempt at a “coup.”

On Wednesday, before the House session began, he also tweeted claiming he had done nothing wrong and stressed that such an event should not happen to any other US president.

Trump, apparently following the live television broadcast of the House session, responded to issues raised by representatives through Twitter during the debates. In one of these messages, he again accused Democrats of lying and wrote that their work is an assault on America and an attack on the Republican Party.

Previously, only the impeachment proceedings of two US presidents, Andrew Johnson (in the nineteenth century in 1868) and Bill Clinton (in the twentieth century in 1998) went to the Senate, both of which failed. Richard Nixon also resigned in 1974 before his impeachment process began.

Trump’s trial in the Senate will result in conviction and removal from office only if two-thirds of senators vote in favor. Currently, Democrats hold less than half of the Senate seats.

According to the French news agency, during the House session, in several states including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and New Orleans, people demonstrated in support of Trump’s impeachment and removal.

Impeachment supporters believe that the existing documents and evidence clearly prove Donald Trump’s violations and abuse of power. Trump supporters, on the other hand, call December 18 a “sad day” for the House of Representatives and believe that the impeachment review process has been unfair.

Source: DW