US House vote advances Trump impeachment

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has voted to formally advance the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump.

Speaker of the US House of Representative Nancy Pelosi hits the gavel to close the vote on a resolution formalising the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has voted to formally advance the impeachment inquiry, laying bare the stark partisan divide over the looming impeachment of Donald Trump.

The vote lays out the guidelines for the impeachment process, increasing­ the prospect that the house will impeach the President, possibly before the end of the year.

The 232-196 vote was almost entirely along party lines, with just two Democrats voting against the bill, both from Republican-leaning districts. No Republicans supported the bill. The resolution sets out a road map for the impeachment inquiry­ and will make the impeachment process more public.

Democrats had initially argued that there was no need to formalise the inquiry but chose to do so to try to counter Republican claims that the process was a secretive sham.

It was only the third time that the house has taken a vote on an ­impeachment inquiry into a president.

The decision by the Democrats shows they are increasingly confid­ent that they have enough material to impeach Mr Trump for seeking to pressure Ukraine into investigation a political opponent, former vice-president Joe Biden.

However, there is still no sign that Republicans are willing to endorse impeachment, meaning that the GOP-controlled Senate will almost certainly not vote to remove­ Mr Trump from office if the house impeaches him.

Democrat house Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the resolution was “not cause for any glee or comfort” but she accused Republicans of trying to hide the truth about Mr Trump’s actions.

“I don’t know why Republicans are afraid of the truth,” she said.

“Every member should support the American people hearing the facts for themselves. That is what this vote is about. It’s about the truth. And what is at stake in all of this is nothing less than our democracy.”

But Republicans and the White House hit back, with the lalter accusin­g Democrats of an “unhinged obsession with this illegitimate impeachment proceeding”.

“The Democrats are choosing every day to waste time on a sham impeachment — a blatantly ­partisan attempt to destroy the President,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said.

Mr Trump tweeted “the Greatest Witch Hunt in American History!”.

Republican house minority leader Kevin McCarthy said the vote was “a disaster for democracy”.

“Democrats are trying to impeac­h the President because they are scared they can’t defeat him at the ballot box,” he said.

“To my colleagues on the other side, I say this: Give the people back their power. Let them choose the next leader of the free world. Follow the principles of our constit­ution. And do not dilute our democracy by interfering in elect­ions from Washington.”

The resolution clears the way for nationally televised testimony before committees and more transparent proceedings compared with the current process, in which most evidence has been given behind closed doors. It also allows committees to release transcripts of closed-door hearings.

The resolution gives some powers to Republicans also to subpoena­ witnesses and testimony, although the Democrat-controlled committees will have to approve the requests.

“If we don’t have a system of checks and balances, we might as well all just elect a president and go home,” Ms Pelosi said. “These rules are fairer than anything that has gone before in terms of an impeachm­ent proceeding.”

Democrats are anxious to ensure­ that the impeachment process is rapid, with hopes that the President might be impeached by the house before the end of the year. Otherwise, the process would risk interfering with the Democrat presidential primaries beginning in early February.

The resolution came a day after investigators summoned former national security adviser John Bolton­ to testify next week.

Mr Bolton’s testimony will be a major moment for the inquiry given his fractious departure from the White House and his warnings about Mr Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s dealings with Ukraine. Mr Bolton warned that Mr Giuliani was a “hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up”.

The Democrats accuse Mr Trump of using the withholding of military aid to pressure the Ukrainian president to investigate Mr Biden and his son Hunter over their activities in Ukraine.

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia