US House of Representatives Supports Investigations for Trump Impeachment

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution allowing investigations related to Trump’s impeachment proceedings to be conducted publicly. The Speaker of the House stressed the importance of this resolution in enabling Americans to access transparent information.

For the first time since investigations began into a possible impeachment of Donald Trump, the U.S. House of Representatives supported the investigations through a resolution.

232 votes in favor against 196 votes opposed. Thus, the majority of House representatives, who are Democrats, on Thursday, October 31, passed a resolution that outlines the rules for conducting investigations and enables, among other things, holding investigative hearings publicly. Republican representatives opposed this resolution.

The House vote centered on initiating impeachment proceedings against the U.S. President. This process can begin after investigations conclude and when representatives determine that sufficient evidence exists to prove Trump’s serious misconduct.

Thursday’s vote was an important test in the current tense situation in America’s domestic politics, revealing the political mood especially to Democratic representatives. With this step, investigations will be conducted at a new level, as future cross-examination sessions with other witnesses will no longer be held behind closed doors.

In response to the House vote result, Trump wrote on Twitter that this is the “greatest harassment and persecution in American history.”

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a Democratic politician, said the House will take the next step after passing this resolution. Pelosi stated that the rules established will bring transparency and clarity, and moreover, people will be able to form their own picture of what witnesses testify.

Pelosi emphasized that investigations conducted for impeaching President Trump are a serious matter and are in no way a cause for Democrats to celebrate. She said that “today is a sad day” and the country’s democracy is in danger.

On Thursday, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that Democratic representatives in Congress formally invited John Bolton, former White House National Security Advisor, to answer questions from representatives regarding investigations related to Trump’s impeachment proceedings. It is said that Democratic representatives asked the former White House National Security Advisor to appear before Congress representatives on November 7 and answer their questions.

Democratic politicians accuse Trump of abusing his office to pressure the Ukrainian government to interfere in American elections in his favor. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, announced at the end of September that Democrats want to launch investigations for a possible impeachment of the President for this reason.

On July 25 in a telephone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump had asked him to cooperate with Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, regarding Hunter Biden’s case, the son of Joe Biden (his main electoral rival). The aim of this cooperation was to damage Trump’s rival Joe Biden’s reputation in the upcoming American elections. Trump had made the payment of $400 million in American aid to Ukraine conditional on Zelensky’s cooperation.

Joe Biden is one of the most important and most promising candidates of the Democratic Party of America to run in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Trump wants to participate again in the upcoming elections as the Republican Party candidate.

For weeks, investigations against Trump have been ongoing in several committees under the U.S. House of Representatives. Despite the White House’s complete opposition, these committees have been conducting behind-closed-door investigations of high-ranking government officials and have concluded that Trump’s statements regarding the “Ukraine case” differ significantly from what these officials say in some respects.

In a resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, there are rules about how investigations will proceed. For example, the House Intelligence Committee will be able to invite witnesses to public question-and-answer sessions.

Also, at the end of investigations, a report is to be prepared for submission to the Judiciary Committee. The resolution also includes rules regarding the rights of Democratic and Republican committee members when calling witnesses and questioning them.

Republican representatives in the House have harshly criticized Democrats for passing the aforementioned resolution.

The decision regarding a possible removal of the U.S. President is made in this country’s Senate. Republicans hold the majority of seats in the U.S. Senate. It is unlikely that the U.S. Senate will vote for Trump’s removal. To date, none of the U.S. Presidents have been removed from office through this procedure.

On Thursday evening, the White House, in response to the formalization of the impeachment investigation process for Trump, released a statement deeming the American President innocent of wrongdoing and describing the impeachment process as “unlawful,” characterizing it as harmful to the people.

Source: DW