In what she billed as "an unusual announcement," U.S. Democrat House Leader Nancy Pelosi urged house committee chairs to move ahead with articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
Pelosi's statement comes a day after leading constitutional scholars testified before the Judiciary Committee. Three of the four scholars testified they believed alleged wrong-doing by Trump amounted to impeachable offences.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "Our democracy is what is at stake. The president leaves us no choice but to act, because he is trying to corrupt, once again, the election for his own benefit." https://t.co/unOrC7jC7C pic.twitter.com/eJhmbbAzXh
— ABC News (@ABC) December 5, 2019
The question before the Judiciary committee is whether Trump leveraged military aid for Ukraine and a meeting at the White House in return for an investigation into Democratic Presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
The Washington Post reported a second matter discussed during hearings was a debunked theory that Ukraine conspired with the Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
Pelosi: "The president has engaged in abuse of power undermining our national security and jeopardizing the integrity of our elections."
— David Chalian (@DavidChalian) December 5, 2019
Trump responded before the announcement, saying, "They have no impeachment case and are demeaning our country."
.....trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business. We will have Schiff, the Bidens, Pelosi and many more testify, and will reveal, for the first time, how corrupt our system really is. I was elected to “Clean the Swamp,” and that’s what I am doing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2019
Pelosi's comments make certain the House of Representatives, in which Democrats have a majority, will move to impeach Trump in the coming weeks.
The New York Times reported the matter would go to the Intelligence Committee next where a debate on the articles of impeachment and vote could take place by the end of next week.
If a majority of members of that committee vote to move ahead, the House will then vote whether to impeach the President. The New York Times described this step as an indictment before the trial, which is political, not criminal.
Any effort to remove Trump as president will be more difficult. The Senate, with its Republican majority, will vote whether to convict Trump on the charges. Two-thirds of the Senate must vote in favour to remove a president from office.