For good or for ill, for better or worse, the wheels have begun turning in the process of impeaching President Donald Trump.
On July 25, President Trump had a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. The content of that call prompted a member of the U.S. intelligence community to file an official whistleblower complaint. The complaint claimed that Donald Trump engaged in an illicit quid quo pro exchange with his Ukrainian counterpart.
The Washington Post revealed the existence of the whistleblower complaint in a story on September 18. The complaint was released to congressional intelligence committees on September 25. That same day, the White House released a transcript of the call. The next day, on September 26, Congress released the complaint to the public.
The allegation against Donald Trump is that he used foreign aid to Ukraine as leverage to get them to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s son. Allegedly, such an investigation could aid Trump in his re-election efforts. The phone call, both as presented in the White House released transcript and in the whistleblower complaint, does contain language used by the President that suggests a quid quo pro. And, military-aid to Ukraine was in fact placed on hold in mid-July, before the phone call with President Zelensky. This indicates the leverage used by the President was very real.
All of these developments have led to the commencement of a formal impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives. Within days, the number of U.S. Representatives that support impeachment proceedings has risen to 224 in some estimations. This means the simple majority threshold for impeachment has been crossed.
Given the evidence presented in the controversy and the slow-building momentum among the Democratic Party in calls for impeachment over the last two-and-a-half years, it is unlikely anyone can slow or deter the process for impeachment. Due to the two-thirds requirement in the Senate and continued Republican support for the President, he may yet be safe from removal, even if the inquiry reveals more damning evidence and conduct. But there is likely nothing he nor his allies can do to keep him from being only the 3rd U.S. President to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
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