US House votes on historic President Donald Trump impeachment

New York: The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has made the historic vote to impeach US President Donald Trump, only the third time it has taken the step in the nation’s 243 years.

The action now shifts to the Republican-controlled Senate after the House voted two on two articles of impeachment against him on Wednesday following a process that stretched over two months and deepened the nation’s vitriolic-filled political divide.

Trump will now be formally tried by the Senate on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over his dealings with Ukraine and the House investigation of it.

Former Presidents Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998, but neither was convicted and forced out of the White House. Impeachment proceedings were launched against Richard Nixon, but he quit in the middle of the process.

The impeachment will not affect Trump’s presidency either as the Republican-controlled Senate will acquit him, making the dramatic impeachment process only catharsis for Democrats smarting from their candidate Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the 2016 election.

Following the vote, the Republican leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy declared: “Trump will be President today, will be president tomorrow, will be president after the impeachment.”

Three Democrats voted against the impeachment, and one abstained fearing a voter backlash in constituencies that had chosen Trump in 2016.

There were no defections from the Republican side. While Democrats hurled allegations of bribery, extortion, and treason against Trump during the televised investigations by House Committees, they did not find a place in the final set of charges because the leadership wanted a narrow charge sheet that would getter wider acceptance.

Trump, who was campaigning in Michigan while the impeachment vote was taking place in Washington, said: “After three years of sinister witch hunts, hoaxes, scams, tonight, House Democrats are trying to nullify the ballots of tens of millions of patriotic Americans.”

He unleashed a series of personal invectives against several Democrats calling Hillary Clinton “horrible person”, and saying that a dead Democrat Congressman was looking up and not down. Soon after the vote, Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi threatened to hold up the Senate trial telling reporters that she had no timeline for sending the charges known as Articles of Impeachment because she was concerned that the Republicans won’t hold an impartial trial. (IANS)

The whos-who in the impeachment trial

Nancy Pelosi: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched the formal impeachment inquiry against Trump on September 24, saying the President “must be held accountable”. After the Wednesday night vote, Pelosi said that it was “a great day for the Constitution” but “a sad day for America”.

Rudy Giuliani: Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer and one of his most vocal cheerleaders, has been central in pushing the suggestion that the Bidens were involved in wrongdoing in Ukraine. He has been speaking to Ukraine’s former and incumbent prosecutors about the case since late last year.

Kurt Volker: Kurt Volker, the US government’s former special envoy to Ukraine, was the middleman between the White House and Zelensky’s government, and appears to have helped urge the Ukrainians to investigate the Bidens, the BBC said.

Gordon Sondland: Gordon Sondland, the US Ambassador to the European Union, first came under scrutiny after text messages surfaced that showed him discussing an effort to put pressure on Ukraine.

Last month, he gave closed-door testimony to Congress in which he denied that military aid was withheld from Ukraine for political reasons. But, in a major reversal, he later revised his testimony and said he had told a Ukrainian official that the aid “likely” hinged on the country opening a political inquiry.

Bill Taylor: Bill Taylor, the Acting Ambassador to Ukraine, was the first official to testify in public televised hearings in Congress. He told a private hearing that it was his “clear understanding” that the President had withheld military aid because he wanted Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. (IANS)

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