Donald Trump impeachment: House votes to impeach president
Donald Trump is the third US president to be impeached after a vote against him for abuse of power.
Donald Trump has become the third US president to be impeached after the House of Representatives passed an historic vote to impeach him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The vote sets up an impeachment trial in the Senate next month and ensures that the controversy will be hotly debated throughout next year’s election campaign.
After six hours of rancorous debate the final vote was split along party lines with only two Democrats opposing Article One of the impeachment resolution and no Republicans supporting it. The vote passed 230 to 197.
Three Democrats voted against Article 2, which passed 229 to 198.
The House voted to impeach Mr Trump as he spoke at a rally in Michigan where he told the crowd “it doesn’t feel like we are being impeached.”
“The country is doing better than ever before, we did nothing wrong and we have tremendous support from the Republican Party like we’ve never had before,” Mr Trump said.
Democrat house Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the House ahead of the vote that impeachment was necessary because the president was “an ongoing threat to national security” and that all members of Congress had a duty to defend the Constitution when it was violated.
“If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty,” she said.
“It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary,” she said. “He gave us no choice.”
Ms Pelosi told the House it was ‘an established fact’ that the president had violated the Constitution with his actions involving Ukraine and his obstruction of Congress.
“It is a matter of fact that the President is an ongoing threat to our national security and the integrity of our elections, the basis of our democracy,” she said.
Ms Pelosi finished her address by saying: “Today we are here to defend democracy for the people” - a comment which led to a standing ovation from Democrats.
Before the vote Mr Trump called on his supporters to “say a prayer” and expressed disbelief about impeachment.
“Can you believe that I will be impeached today by the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, AND I DID NOTHING WRONG!” Mr Trump tweeted. “A terrible Thing. Read the Transcripts. This should never happen to another President again. Say a PRAYER!”
Can you believe that I will be impeached today by the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, AND I DID NOTHING WRONG! A terrible Thing. Read the Transcripts. This should never happen to another President again. Say a PRAYER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2019
Doug Collins, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee said Americans would see through the partisan attempt to impeach the president.
“The people of America understand due process and they understand when it is being trampled in the people’s house,” he said.
He mocked Democrats for claiming impeachment was a solemn occasion for them. ‘I do not believe (them). This is not a solemn occasion, when you are looking for something for three years you ought to be excited when you found it.”
During the debate Mr Trump sent a volley of tweets and retweets including: “SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.”
The House voted on two articles of impeachment, one for alleged abuse of power by the president in seeking to leverage US military aid to Ukraine and a visit to the White House to pressure Ukraine to launch a public investigation into Democrat Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The other article is for alleged obstruction of Congress in blocking the impeachment inquiry.
Polls show that Americans are almost evenly divided on the merits of impeachment, with no clear trends either for or against impeachment during the three month inquiry.
The impeachment means that the Senate will conduct a courtroom-style trial over several weeks in January presided over by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Republicans want to limit the witnesses who will testify at that trial although Democrats are pushing for testimony from high profile White House officials including acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and sacked national security adviser John Bolton.
The Republican-controlled Senate will almost certainly acquit Mr Trump, ensuring he will remain in office to contest the next election.
Mr Trump has said he believes his impeachment will help him politically by galvanizing his base to vote for him in the election next November.
Mr Trump also said Ms Pelosi would “go down in history as worst Speaker.”
Mr Trump’s comment about Ms Pelosi follows his blistering letter to her the previous day in which he accused Democrats of an unprecedented abuse of power and an ‘open war on American Democracy’ in seeking to impeach him.
“This impeachment represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power by Democrat politicians, unequalled in nearly two and a half centuries of American legislative history,” Mr Trump said. “More due process was afforded to the accused in the Salem Witch Trials.”
Ms Pelosi described the letter as “ridiculous” and “really sick.”
House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said it was “a long, rambling, angry letter of someone who appears not well.”
Mr Trump is the third US president to be impeached behind Bill Clinton in 1998 and Andrew Johnson in 1868. Richard Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974 over the Watergate scandal before the house could vote to impeach him.
‘No one above the law’
Ahead of the vote, the debate ricocheted back and forth between representatives for the parties, managed by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
The Democrats are expected to get the votes needed to impeach Mr Trump, although no Republicans are expected to support impeachment.
Democrats lined up to condemn the US President, accusing him of using his office to “besmirch his perceived primarey political opponent (Joe Biden),” as Democrat Steve Cohen told the House.
In return, Repubicans accused their opponents of betrayal and a “shameless travesty of justice” for bringing the debate in the first place, arguing that Jesus Christ was treated better before his crucifixion.
“This day is about one thing and one thing only. They hate this president. They hate those of us who voted for him. They think we are stupid,” said Republican Chris Stewart.
Republican Mike Kelly compared the impeachment to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour.
“On December 7, 1941, a horrific act happened in the United States, and it’s one that President Roosevelt said, ‘This is a date that will live in infamy’,” he said.
“Today, December 18th, 2019, is another date that will live in infamy,” he added.
Ted Lieu, a Democrat congressman from California, told the House: “This impeachment is permanent. It will follow him around for the rest of his life and history books will record it. And the people will know why we impeached. It’s all very simple. No one is above the law.”
As they debated, Mr Trump was in Battle Creek, Michigan, preparing to address a campaign rally.
The White House insisted the President would be busy working rather than focused on the proceedings in the House, but he spent much of his day tweeting and retweeting, expressing fury and disbelief at the proceedings.
Supporters, protesters rally
As the historic vote neared, former US marine Dion Cini stood outside the Capitol building in Washington waving a giant Trump flag and loudly declaring the president’s innocence.
“I am a one-man wrecking ball,” he shouted as he stood alone on the edge of a large rally of anti-Trump protesters who had gathered to call for the impeachment of the 45th president.
“I’m here because I support my president,” Cini said as anti-Trump voters heckled him and, inside Congress neared the historic decision to impeach Mr Trump.
“Asking about Hunter Biden is not an impeachable offence,” he cried.
As he spoke, he was approached by Washington social worker Lisa Foeke holding a sign saying “Impeach and Remove! Keep our Democracy.”
“He has destroyed America’s reputation around the world and he is extorting a foreign power.’ she told him.
Cini retorted: “Do you mean Joe Biden or Trump?”
“Tell me this,” she said in return. “I need to understand why you can’t see the facts in front of your face.”
Similar exchanges took place across the US as more than 600 rallies organized by progressive groups were held to support impeachment, while a handful of counter rallies were also held to support Mr Trump.
As congressmen and women debated, in the Washington streets anti-Trump voters easily outnumbered pro-Trumpers, but even then the national turnout was relatively modest with most rallies around the country attracting hundreds rather than thousands of people.
Polls show that Americans are almost evenly divided over Trump’s impeachment but many are also disengaged from what they see as a partisan political act.
“I am here because we need to save our democracy, I think we are at that point,’ Ms Foeke said after her exchange with Mr Cini.
“I believe in free speech but I don’t believe our leaders are free to lie and when you’ve got the president of the US repeating Russian propaganda points that’s not okay,” she said.
Retired construction worker Korey Holmes, wearing a T-shirt saying “Impeach The Chump lock him up,” said Mr Trump needed to leave office.
“He needs to go, the man is a walking crime wave. I read all 448 pages of the Mueller report and he cheated on the first election and he is trying to do it again now,” he said.
Greg Costanzo, waving a sign saying “No More Kings” said he came to the Capitol to show his support for impeachment.
“We need checks on this president otherwise he will abuse power again and again and we can’t have that,’ he said.
But Mr Cini, who lives in Trump Place in New York was having none of it.
“He (Trump) is a nice guy,’ he said. I live in one of his buildings in New York.’
“In my opinion what Joe Biden did was impeachable. Republicans will stick together 100 per cent on this. Look at all these people here,’ he said, pointing a the anti-Trump protesters. “I mean this is just political theatre and these people are the minions.’
‘This isn’t a solemn occasion’
Doug Collins, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, opened comments for Republicans by saying Americans saw through the partisan attempt to impeach the president.
“The people of America understand due process and they understand when it is being trampled in the people’s house,” Mr Collins said.
He mocked Democrats for claiming impeachment was a solemn occasion for them. ‘I do not believe (them). This is not a solemn occasion, when you are looking for something for three years you ought to be excited when you found it.”
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Mr Trump would be working all day during the impeachment debate but ‘could catch some of the proceedings between meetings.’
During the debate Mr Trump sent a volley of tweets and retweets including: “SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.”
SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2019
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia
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