News Brief
Trump Becomes Fourth US President To Face Impeachment Proceedings; Accused Of Coercing Ukraine To Investigate Biden
Donald Trump (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
US Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced that the House of Representatives is launching an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump for withholding Ukrainian military aid in order to coerce the opening of an investigation into prospective presidential rival and former vice-president Joe Biden.
In a televised address, Pelosi charged Trump of betraying his oath of office and US national security by seeking the intervention of a foreign power in his 2020 re-election bid.
Pelosi said that the House would investigate allegations that Trump pressed Ukraine’s president to investigate the local business activities of Biden’s son.
Trump is now the fourth American president to face impeachment proceedings.
The latest scandal erupted after an as yet un-identified whistleblower in the intelligence community reported concerns about conversation Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
During a 25 July phone call Trump is said to have requested investigations in to the dealings of Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden.
Biden has been facing accusations that he misused his position to help a Ukrainian energy company that was doing business with his son.
In 2014, Biden even called for the dismissal of a prosecutor who oversaw investigations into the head of the energy company. The Ukrainian energy company is said to have leveraged the clout of the Bidens to avoid a corruption probe soon after Hunter was appointed to its board.
Trump has admitted speaking to Zelensky about the Bidens. He has also confirmed that he personally decided to withhold nearly $400 million of military aid to Ukraine before making the call to the Ukrainian president. But he has refused allegations that withholding the aid was an attempt to pressure Zelensky.
Trump defended his decision to delay military aid saying he wanted other nations to contribute to Ukraine as well. Ukraine relies on the American security umbrella for protection from Russian aggression.
Trump also said that the he will release the transcripts of his conversation with his Ukranian counterpart which will provide an “verbatim” account of what they said. He added that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had received permission from Ukraine to release the transcript.
In addition to the transcript, the House Democrats are also demanding a copy of the whistleblower’s complaint amidst whispers that Trump may have asked Zelnsky to open investigation against Bidens on more than one occasion.
In a bipartisan vote, Senate Republican and Democrat voted together to pass a resolution demanding that the Trump administration “immediately” release the whistleblower complaint detailing allegations against the president to the House and Senate intelligence committees.
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