The Senate Committee on Jurisprudence of the United States approved two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, according to which he is accused of abuse of power and obstruction of the US Congress. Both articles were adopted by 23 votes in favor with 17 votes against - the committee members were divided on a party basis.
“For the third time in just over half a century, the House’s Legal Committee approved the launch of the impeachment process against the president in connection with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The House of Representatives will act promptly, ”NPR Radio quoted the chairman of the Democrat Committee, Jerrold Nadler.
Thus, the US Democratic Party brought another step closer to the impeachment of Donald Trump. Now the articles approved by the committee will go to the so-called vote by the "full" House of Representatives, in which all congressmen will take part.
US media report that the vote may take place next week.
If members of the House vote on the basis of these articles for impeachment, the US Senate will have to conduct a trial where two-thirds of the senators' votes are required to convict. At the same time, experts have repeatedly noted that such a development of events is unlikely, since Republicans have the majority in the upper house.
Nevertheless, after the adoption of the articles of impeachment, the members of the US Republican Party again expressed their disagreement with the essence of the charges.
“Today's vote highlights the stupidity of impeachment articles that do not blame the crime and do not provide evidence,” said Doug Collins, a Georgia congressman and Republican leader on the jurisprudence committee.
As Vladimir Vasiliev, the chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada, noted in an interview with RT, the results of the committee’s vote indicate that Trump has nothing to worry about and that all Republicans in Congress are ready to support him.
“Democrats voted consolidatedly for, while the Republican faction voted consolidatedly against. Accordingly, at the next vote, the entire republican faction of the chamber will vote in the same way, ”the expert explained.
Trump's objections
Recall that the Democrats accuse Donald Trump of talking with the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky allegedly "abused his official powers to obtain personal and political benefits to the detriment of national security." According to the allegations, the U.S. president allegedly withheld $ 391 million transfer of military assistance to Kiev, forcing Zelensky to launch an investigation into the activities in Ukraine of his likely opponent in the 2020 election - former U.S. vice president Joe Biden - and his son Hunter.
- U.S. Congress
- Reuters
- © Jim Young
Donald Trump has repeatedly denied any abuse of power or pressure in his communication with the President of Ukraine, and described the impeachment procedure as a farce. He did not change his position even after the congressional committee on jurisprudence voted to accept articles with accusations.
“This is a scam, such an unacceptable and extremely negative effect on our country. You turn impeachment into something ordinary. Here's what I tell you: someday the democrat will be president, and the majority in the House of Representatives will receive Republicans. Then, I think, they will remember it to you, ”NBC television quoted Trump as saying.
At the same time, the US president made conflicting statements about his attitude to the procedure. So, on December 5, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the preparation of impeachment articles, Trump called on the democratic opposition to transfer them to the Senate faster.
"If you are going to introduce me to impeachment, act now and do not hesitate so that we can conduct a fair trial in the Senate and so that our country can return to its business," the president wrote on his Twitter.
However, after voting on the impeachment articles in the legal committee on December 13, Trump said that the speed of the process did not matter to him.
“We can figure it out quickly, we can pull it. I heard Mitch (McConnell, the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate. - RT ), Lindsay (Republican Senator Lindsay Graham. - RT ). I think they came to some sort of consensus. I am ready to do as they say. It does not matter. I am not opposed to a lengthy process, because I would like to see the whistleblower, this scammer! If only he had been called to testify in the Senate, ”NBC quoted Trump as saying.
By election through impeachment
It is worth noting that Trump’s desire to extend the impeachment procedure may be due to the fact that the process has a positive effect on his level of approval among voters. Thus, according to a Reuters / Ipsos poll of December 10, the number of respondents among independent voters who are extremely disapproving of Donald Trump as president decreased from 48% in November to 38%.
- US President Donald Trump
- Reuters
- © Jonathan Ernst
According to a Gallup poll of November 20, Trump’s presidency was approved by 90% of voters who vote for the Republican Party. Even the media critical of Trump note that the impeachment procedure does not adversely affect its popularity among Americans.
Over the past eight months, the Democratic Party has been trying to promote the story of impeachment, but the interest of American citizens in this process has not increased, nor has the number of people who advocate impeachment increased, the director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University said in a conversation with RT Yuri Rogulev. Now the democrats want to speed up this process, since impeachment may interfere with the procedure for conducting primaries before the 2020 elections, the expert believes.
“In February, the election race officially starts, and in March, the primaries should be held. Accordingly, in these conditions there is no sense in impeachment. Removing the president a month before the end of his term is completely absurd. Democrats are in a hurry, because then this procedure loses all meaning. The Republicans are in a hurry because they are already tired of what the Democratic Party is doing, ”the political scientist said.
According to Yuri Rogulev, Trump members of the same party want to stage their show in the Senate, where they will invite witnesses to refute the accusations of the Democrats.
“Now Trump’s lawyer Rudi Giuliani has returned to the country, who stated that he has a lot of facts and documents that confirm Biden’s corruption in Ukraine. The impeachment will fail in the Senate, but at the same time, the Republicans will stage their show in order to inflict maximum damage on the Democrats, ”the expert explained.
Vladimir Vasiliev, in turn, noted that if the impeachment procedure is delayed until February, this will prevent the participation in the election campaign of those Democrats who are also senators, since they will have to participate in the trial in the upper house of the US Congress.
“Trump now has no opponent in the ranks of the Republican Party, so the primary election for him is a formality, while the Democrats have a peak situation, since they have a big fight. If senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Klobushar and Booker, who are key players from the Democratic Party, will be in the Senate to consider the case of impeachment, then they can disrupt their election campaigns, ”the expert explained.
According to Vladimir Vasiliev, in an attempt to remove Trump from power, Democrats can generally put an end to their participation in the 2020 elections, since the fate of their main leader may be at stake.
“Impeachment was promoted in order to“ save ”Biden, to distract the public from his family’s affairs in Ukraine. Democrats understand that this process may end with the fact that the main candidate of their party will be completely blown away and, accordingly, he will lose them by the beginning of the active phase of political elections, but they don’t know who to replace him with, ”the political scientist concluded.