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Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States faces an impeachment inquiry initiated on the 24th of September by Nancey Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Prior to the inquiry being initiated, an anonymous whistleblower complaint filed to Congress claimed that President Trump contacted the Ukrainian government regarding investigations of Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden, his political rival. The President was accused of using promised aid materials to the European state as a bargaining chip to push investigations on Hunter Biden, in an attempt to sabotage the reputation of Joe Biden, who is running for President in the 2020 elections.
Background Context
Joe Biden served as the Vice President during the Obama Administration. On April 25, he announced his campaign for the 2020 Presidential Election. Between 2014 to 2019, his son Hunter Biden served on the board of Ukrainian natural gas producer, Burisma Holdings.
Trump claimed in July that Joe Biden used his position as the Vice President during the Obama Administration to protect the interests of his son, Hunter Biden. The President further claimed that Hunter was under investigation from Ukrainian authorities, which turned out to be a false statement. Then, $392 million dollars of military aid to Ukraine was ordered by Trump to be withheld on the July 18, The Washington Post reported. Later that month, the presidents of the two nations spoke over the phone. Concerns sparked as to whether President Trump withheld promised aid materials out of national interests or for personal gain.
On August 12, an anonymous whistleblower complaint was filed to Congress, escalating public attention to the President’s action on the matters of Ukraine. Soon after, the House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated an impeachment inquiry towards the President. The whistleblower complaint is a report filed by an official in the White House who has decided to report his/her concerns to Congress.
A Timeline of Events
April 25 Joe Biden announced his election campaign.
July Trump claimed that Joe Biden used his powers for the interests
of his son, as well as claiming that Hunter Biden was under
investigations.
July 25 President of the U.S. and Ukraine spoke on the phone.
August 12 Whistleblower complaint to Congress.
September 24 Impeachment Inquiry initiated by Nancy Pelosi.
September 26 Release of the whistleblower complaint.
Head to The Guardian for a detailed timeline.
The U.S. Impeachment Process
The U.S. Constitution provides the legal basis for the impeachment process. According to the Constitution, the House of Representatives holds “the sole power of impeachment” while the Senate holds “the sole power to try all impeachments.” No further detailed instructions were present in the Constitution beyond having the Chief Justice preside and require two-thirds of Senate members present during an impeachment process. The Constitution limits grounds for impeachment on “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
“The House of Representatives … shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” —U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2, Clause 5
“The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.” —U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 3, Clause 6
In practice, the investigation process usually begins in the House Judiciary Committee. The House must eventually vote, by majority, to pass articles of impeachment, upon which the accused shall be tried. The Senate will host the trials, with the Chief Justice presiding over the process. If votes exceed two-thirds, the accused is convicted and will be removed from office and be disqualified to “hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.” However, the President being convicted by the Senate will not be punished beyond removal from office in the process. Instead, he may be subjected to trials in regular federal courts for his crimes.
Reactions
The anonymous whistleblower complaint filed to the U.S. Congress’s Committee on Intelligence claimed that Trump is “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. Election”. Soon after the complaint was filed, Nancy Pelosi initiated the impeachment inquiry.
Left-leaning media outlets have voiced concerns that Trump was abusing his powers for his political career, withholding aid and pressuring a foreign country’s government to investigate his political rival. In contrast, some Right-leaning outlets claim that withholding the aid materials was unrelated to the Biden incident, excusing the President’s actions while questioning Joe Biden’s role in his son’s career developments.
On the president’s favorite social media platform, Twitter, he has attacked multiple notable individuals involved in the impeachment process, including the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and the inspector general of the intelligence community who alerted Congress to the whistleblower complaint. Trump called the impeachment a “witch hunt” in his speeches, and on Twitter on multiple occasions. The president even went to the certain lengths to describe the impeachment inquiry as a “coup” aimed to “take away Power of the people,[…] their freedoms[…]” on Twitter. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, was repeatedly assaulted by Trump on the platform. The president compared the whistleblower as a spy and accused his actions as treason.
“You know what we used to do in the old days [to spies]? […] We used to handle them a little differently than we do now.” —Donald Trump
Hearings on impeachment have been proceeding since the first session on November 13t. Hearings are a means to gather information and evidence for Congress committees.
What Might Happen Next
No president has ever been impeached and removed from office in the history of the U.S. Nixon resigned before a resolution for his impeachment could be voted upon. With Donald Trump having been reported by Bloomberg to have alluded to Nixon’s resignation but declaring “I don’t leave,” it is likely that the impeachment process would continue and Trump would refuse to resign. As of now, the Democratic party, who is pushing for the president’s impeachment, has a majority in the House. On the other hand, Trump’s Republican Party controls the Senate, which holds the power to vote on the final trial. Thus far, a majority of Republican Senators are not in direct support of the impeachment campaign.
If Trump’s term survives the impeachment, his political career will be determined in the 2020 election. If Trump ends up being removed from office, Vice President Mike Pence will become President until the next election.
A Bloomberg opinion piece predicts that Trump would become a minor figure in politics if the Senatorial vote to convict him as he loses media coverage.
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