US President Donald Trump slams impeachment in angry six-page memo

US President Donald Trump has penned a scathing six-page memo furiously branding his impending impeachment an “abuse of power”.

US President Donald Trump has ripped into his political rivals, branding his impeachment a “war on democracy” and an “abuse of power”.

In a cutting six-page letter addressed to Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mr Trump hit out at Democrats, accusing them of “interfering in America’s elections”.

The note, topped with the official White House letter head, comes just hours before he will face an impeachment vote, due Wednesday US time, regarding allegations he pressured Ukraine for his own advantage and then obstructed Congress.

“You are the ones subverting America’s democracy. You are the ones Obstructing Justice. You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our Republic for your own selfish personal, political, and partisan gain,” the President wrote.

“You have cheapened the importance of the very ugly word, impeachment!

“More due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials.”

A furious Donald Trump has unleashed on his rivals ahead of the crucial impeachment vote. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

He also described the move to impeach him as a “crusade” against him and an “unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power by Democrat Lawmakers, unequalled in nearly two and half centuries of American legislative history”.

“By proceeding with your invalid impeachment, you are violating your oaths of office, you are breaking your allegiance to the Constitution, and you are declaring open war on American democracy,” he wrote.

He also specifically accused Ms Pelosi of “spiteful actions” and “unfettered contempt” for America’s Founding Fathers, and said it was a “terrible thing” Democrats were doing.

“One hundred years from now, when people look back at this affair, I want them to understand it, and learn from it so that it can never happen to another President again,” he wrote.

“This is nothing more than an illegal, partisan attempted coup that will, based on recent sentiment, badly fail at the voting booth.”

He also branded the Ukraine accusations against him as a “completely disingenuous, meritless and baseless invention of your imagination”, and denounced allegations he had obstructed Congress as “preposterous and dangerous”.

He insisted he did not try to use his influence to force Ukraine’s hand.

“I said to President Zelensky: would like you to do us a favour, though, because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it? I said do us a favour, not me and our country, not a campaign,” Mr Trump wrote.

But the President’s lengthy letter failed to convince House Rules Committee chairman Jim McGovern, who said Mr Trump’s actions had “jeopardised our national security” and “undermined our democracy”.

US President Donald Trump has penned a scathing letter.

Mr McGovern, who is overseeing the group tasked with setting the rules surrounding the vote, said “every day we let President Trump act like the law doesn’t apply to him, we move a little closer” to rule by dictators.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to be here today, but the actions of the president of the United States make that necessary,” Mr McGovern said.

“The evidence is as clear as it is overwhelming.”

THE CHARGES

The 73-year-old leader is facing two impeachment charges.

One alleges he obstructed Congress by refusing to co-operate with the initial impeachment probe by withholding evidence and prevented employees from giving evidence, while the second surrounds the claims he tried to push Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden.

Scores of Democrats have come forward recently to declare they will vote in favour of impeachment.

If the vote goes as expected, the father of five will become the third US president in history to be impeached, along with Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton – although so far, none have ever been removed from office as a result.

If Mr Trump is impeached, he will go on trial in the Senate.

There is a Republican majority in the Senate, so the bid to remove the President from office is expected to fail.

– with wires