WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday that the House is moving forward to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
’’Our democracy is what is at stake,” Pelosi said. “The president leaves us no choice but to act.”
Pelosi delivered the announcement as Democrats push toward a vote, possibly by Christmas.
She said she was authorizing the drafting of articles of impeachment “sadly but with confidence and humility.”
“The president’s actions have seriously violate the Constitution,” Pelosi said.
At the heart of the impeachment probe is a July call with the president of Ukraine, in which Democrats say President Trump pressed the leader to investigate Democrats as he was withholding aid to the country.
Pelosi’s statement came one day after the first impeachment hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, which heard from legal experts who analyzed whether Trump’s conduct was impeachable.
The committee’s next step is expected to be a look into the evidence presented by the House Intelligence Committee, which released on Tuesday a 300-page report detailing the findings of the House’s two-month investigation into President Trump and Ukraine.
Democrats are considering bringing multiple articles of impeachment against the President, including abuse of power and bribery for his actions toward Ukraine, and obstruction of Congress for stonewalling the investigation. Democrats are also weighing whether to bring forward an obstruction of justice charge that would include the allegations against President Trump detailed in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
The House Judiciary Committee, which took up the obstruction of justice investigation, included questions about Mueller and obstruction of justice at Wednesday’s hearing.
Republicans have continued to slam the impeachment process as an unfair process that’s predetermined to try to overturn the results of the 2016 election.
Trump told Democrats in a tweet Thursday to quickly impeach him so they could move onto the Senate trial, where Republicans have a majority.
“They have no Impeachment case and are demeaning our Country,” President Trump said. “But nothing matters to them, they have gone crazy. Therefore I say, if you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair…trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business.
President Trump added the witnesses he’d like to see, including House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden — and even Pelosi.
“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!” he said.
