The Justice Committee in the US House of Representatives has spoken out in favor of initiating an official impeachment trial against President Donald Trump. The panel approved with the majority of Democrats both charges for possible impeachment of the President. Trump is therefore responsible for abuse of power and obstruction of the investigation of the Congress.
The vote is a recommendation to the plenum of the House of Representatives. There, the deputies could now vote on the points before Christmas and formally open an impeachment trial against Trump (read more here).
The Democrats accuse Trump of urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj to investigate his political rival Joe Biden in an attempt to influence the US presidential election in 2020 in his favor. They see as proven that Trump has made the announcement of such investigations a meeting with Selenskyj in the White House and the release of military aid for Ukraine dependent. They regard this as abuse of office. They also accuse him of obstructing the House's investigation into the Ukraine affair. Trump rejects the allegations vehemently and speaks of a "witch hunt".
Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said, "No matter how popular or not, no matter how good or bad the results of his policy may be, no president should be a dictator in the United States." The Republicans accuse the Democrats of reversing Trump's election victory in 2016 and wanting to prevent his re-election next year. "The Democrats have never accepted the will of the American people," criticized Rep. Jim Jordan. His party colleague Louie Gohmert said, "That's how it went under Stalin."
- How does an impeachment procedure work? Here you can read more about it.
The Democrats are the majority in the House of Representatives. It is therefore very likely that if there is a vote in plenary, the Chamber will have enough votes to officially open the impeachment procedure. That does not mean, however, that Trump would actually be removed from office.
After the vote in the House of Representatives, the process continues in the Senate, where Trumps Republican majority. There could be a trial of Trump in January. However, a Senate verdict and impeachment that would require a two-thirds majority of 67 out of the 100 senators is currently considered highly unlikely. For this, at least 20 Republican senators would have to join the Democrats.
Nevertheless, even the formal opening of impeachment proceedings would be a blemish for Trump. He is after Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton only the fourth president in the history of the United States against which impeachment investigations were led.