US President Donald Trump has called the impeachment process against him a "coup". It is about electoral fraud and trying to take power from the citizens of the United States, Trump wrote on Twitter. "Every day I learn more, I come to the conclusion that what's happening is not impeachment, but a PUTSCH," Trump wrote - and put the keyword in capital letters.
The Democrats in the US House of Representatives had launched an impeachment trial last week over the Ukraine affair. It is a procedure provided for by law - not a coup d'état. A coup is usually called an unconstitutional or even violent change of government, often with the involvement of the military.
Trump wrote to his more than 65 million followers on Twitter that it was a coup that sought to "take away the power of the citizens, their voices, their freedoms, their religion, the military and the border wall - and their God-given Rights as citizens of the United States ". In another tweet, he wrote that the impeachment trial was merely a political maneuver of the Democrats.
People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of the United States of America!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2019Trump is accused of pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj in a phone call in late July to investigate something that would harm his Democratic rival Joe Biden. The Democrats controlling the House of Representatives see it as an attempt by the Republican president to manipulate the November 2020 presidential election. Trump rejects the allegations as an absurd witch hunt.
The Democrats are pushing the trial against Trump with great pressure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and influential Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff wanted to speak at a news conference on Wednesday. During the week, several witnesses will be heard.
Trump had previously suggested via Twitter that ship should be arrested and charged with his behavior during a hearing on the Ukraine affair - an extremely unusual attack by a US president against a deputy.
More about the Ukraine affair
Committees threaten Minister Pompeo with punishment
Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo is also increasingly under pressure in the Ukraine affair. Citing media reports that Pompeo was allegedly involved in Trump's telephone conversation with Selenskyj, the chairmen of the three investigative committees in the House of Representatives wrote on Tuesday night that Pompeo now faces a conflict of interest and will himself be summoned as a witness. Therefore, he should "no longer make decisions" in relation to the testimony of other witnesses from the Foreign Office or the release of documents, the honorable Member warned in the letter to Vice Minister John Sullivan.
If he tries to influence the investigation to protect himself or the president, he may face several years in jail for obstructing the investigation, the committee chairmen warned.
Pompeo had recently stated that he could not comply with the summons of staff from his house through Congress. Because of severe procedural and legal shortcomings of the subpoenas, the statements on the given dates are "not feasible".
