Trump set for tough North Atlantic Treaty Organisation meetings under impeachment cloud
- par Carole Baillairge
- dans Divertissement
- — Déc 4, 2019
The solicitation constituted an abuse of the office of the presidency because Pres. Trump was using his office to seek a personal political and electoral advantage over his political rival, former vice president Joe Biden, and over the Democratic Party.
Trump is addressing the impeachment inquiry as he attends a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in London.
Meanwhile, Rep. Matt Gaetz said Democrats will be held accountable for continuing to prioritize removing the president from office rather than helping the American people with meaningful legislation.
In their 300-page report, Democrats accused the president of putting "personal political benefit" ahead of America's interests and engaging in "an unprecedented campaign of obstruction of this impeachment inquiry".
The House Judiciary Committee's first impeachment hearing quickly exploded into partisan infighting.
Nadler announced that four law professors - Noah Feldman, Pamela Karlan, Michael Gerhardt and Jonathan Turley - will be testifying at Wednesday's hearings.
The Democratic-written impeachment report by the House Intelligence Committee lays out evidence that Trump was trying to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, effectively intervening in the upcoming 2020 US election. However, a senior member of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's leadership team told Fox News Tuesday evening that it seems unlikely the full House can vote on impeaching Trump before Christmas, saying it's "too complex" a process. This continued solicitation of foreign interference in a US election presents a clear and present danger that the President will continue to use the power of his office for his personal political gain. The White House was invited to participate in the proceedings, but the White House counsel's office said earlier this week that it would, for all intents and purposes, boycott this initial step. You're doing precisely what you're criticizing the president for doing. "The problem for Democrats is they cant change the fact that not a single witness provided testimony that Donald Trump ever related military aid to investigations, not a single witness ever related that Donald Trump talked about a quid pro quo involving Ukrainian military aid, and so again this is long on political motivation and short on real facts that would drive an impeachment".
This week, impeachment hearings will move to the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who will call up four constitutional law professors to discuss the gravity of impeaching a president.
Collins says "this is not impeachment, this is a simple railroad job".
Karlan, a Stanford law professor, told House lawmakers on December 4 that she was "insulted" by Republican Rep. Doug Collins' suggestion that she, who is testifying as a law professor, wouldn't care about the facts. In the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton described an impeachable offense as "the abuse or violation of some public trust".
The House Intelligence Committee report released Tuesday is expected to form the basis for Judiciary to draw up formal charges - articles of impeachment - that could include bribery, abuse of power, obstruction and contempt of Congress. If a majority of the committee's members agree to do so, they'll approve articles in the coming weeks and send them to the House floor for a vote.
If they pass as expected, Trump would then stand trial for removal in the Republican-controlled Senate, where he is likely to be exonerated.
