Donald Trump letter to Nancy Pelosi accuses Democrats of abuse of power

Donald Trump has written a blistering final letter to Nancy Pelosi ahead of his expected impeachment on Thursday.

Donald Trump has written a blistering final letter to Democrat house Speaker Nancy Pelosi ahead of his expected impeachment on Thursday, saying more due process was afforded to those involved in the Salem witch trials.

In a six-page letter, the US President accuses Democrats of an unprecedented abuse of power and an “open war on American Democracy” in seeking to impeach him over the Ukraine affair.

“This impeachment represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power by Democrat lawmakers, unequalled in nearly two-and-a-half centuries of American legislative history,” Mr Trump wrote. He described ­impeachment as an “illegal partisan coup”.

“More due process was afforded to the accused in the Salem witch trials,” he said.

Trump’s letter: Mobile users, click here to read the PDF

Mr Trump’s letter came ahead of an historic day in which the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives will vote to make Mr Trump only the third president to be impeached, alongside Bill Clinton 1998 and Andrew Johnson in 1868.

A final meeting between house Democrats on Wednesday indicated that the impeachment vote would easily pass the house, with only a handful of defections from electorally vulnerable Democrats from Trump-leaning districts.

Republicans have remained loyal to the President and none are expected to vote in favour of impeachment.

Mr Trump told Ms Pelosi that he wrote the letter to her so that 100 years from now people would know what took place and why it should never be repeated.

“One hundred years from now, when people look back on this ­affair, I want them to understand it, and learn from it, so that it can never happen to another president again,” Mr Trump said.

Donald Trump’s letter to Nancy Pelosi accused Democrats of abuse of power. Picture: AP.

Mr Trump accused Ms Pelosi of “scarcely concealing your ­hatred for me” and said she would have to live with her actions for the rest of her life.

“The articles of impeachment … are not recognisable under any standard of constitutional theory, interpretation, or jurisprudence. They include no crimes, no mis­demeanours, any offences whatsoever. You have cheapened the importance of a very ugly word, impeachment!” he said.

He said the real motivation of Democrats was that they were “unwilling and unable to accept the verdict issued at the ballot box during the great Election of 2016 … you view Democracy as your enemy”.

He claimed the Democrats were “desperate to distract” from his achievements as President, ­including “an extraordinary economy, incredible jobs boom, record stockmarket, soaring confidence and flourishing citizens”. “You are the ones interfering in America’s elections. 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.”

Donald Trump has accused Democrats of interfering in the US election. Picture: AP

Democrat congressmen hit back, with Don Beyer saying “this letter is an embarrassment to the office”. Brian Schatz called it “completely insane”.

Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell rejected a call by Democrat minority leader Chuck Schumer to subpoena new witnesses for the Senate ­impeachment trial next month. Senator McConnell said it was the responsibility of the house, not the Senate, to build the legal case against the President.

“It is not the Senate’s job to leap into the breach and search desperately for ways to get to guilty,” he said.

Senator Schumer had called for four new witnesses to testify at the Senate trial, including Mr Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and sacked national ­security adviser John Bolton.

He responded to Senator McConnell’s comments, saying “Why is the leader, why is the President so afraid of having these witnesses come testify? What are they afraid these witnesses would say? Senators who oppose this plan will have to explain why less evidence is better than more ­evidence.”

Mr Trump told Ms Pelosi that impeachment would help his chances of re-election next year.

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

“The voters are wise and they are seeing straight through this empty, hollow and dangerous game you are playing.”

An average of polls by RealClearPolitics found Americans split almost evenly, with 46.9 per cent favouring impeachment and removal from office, and 47.6 per cent opposing it.

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia