It's an explosive procedure and a political thunderbolt. Democrats on Tuesday (September 24th), in Washington, launched the first stage of a process of impeachment of Donald Trump, suspected of having asked the Ukrainian president to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter.
House Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi accuses the US president of abuse of power and endangering the national security of the United States. "The actions of the president to date have violated the Constitution, she accused. Today, I announce that the House of Representatives is launching an official investigation for a dismissal procedure. "
Since the beginning of the Trump presidency, several cases, including those of Russian interference in his election or alleged conflicts of interest, overwhelm the American billionaire. But if the Democrats, majority in the lower house of Congress, have long hesitated to launch such a procedure, this new Ukrainian business that splashes the White House is too much.
What is it about ?
Donald Trump is suspected of having put pressure on his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, newly elected in April. During a telephone conversation in July, he would have sought information likely to harm former US Vice President Joe Biden, a favorite in the race for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in this interview, the US president has insisted eight times to his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden, he thinks he is involved in corruption cases in Ukraine.
He also invited him to contact Rudolph Giuliani, his personal lawyer and former mayor of New York, to work on the case. According to him, Joe Biden, then vice president of the Obama administration, would have put pressure in 2016 on the Ukrainian authorities to obtain the dismissal of a prosecutor who was investigating his son.
More frightening for the Democrats, Donald Trump would have put in the balance a military aid of 400 million dollars intended for Ukraine, but frozen a few days before the telephone interview. While qualifying his rival Joe Biden as "corrupt," Donald Trump denied on Monday, according to the Washigton Post, that he made such an offer to his Ukrainian counterpart, whom he will meet Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. .
"No, I did not do it, I did not do it ... When you see the transcript, you will be very surprised," responded the US president, who announced that the transcription "complete, totally declassified and unredeemed "of her interview would be made public Wednesday, and she would show that this conversation was" totally appropriate ".
Where did the case go from?
It is a mysterious whistleblower, a member of US intelligence, who warned his superiors on August 12 about a telephone conversation Donald Trump with Volodymyr Zelensky. On September 9, Michael Atkinson, the Inspector General of Intelligence, informed Congress - a month later - of the whistleblower's report. A delay that has raised questions about possible interventions.
According to several US media, the White House may allow the transmission of its report to US officials, and studies with intelligence officials, the possibility that the whistleblower is heard by members of Congress.
The whistleblower, who would otherwise have worked at the White House, is ready to testify before a congressional committee if the security conditions are met, said his lawyer Tuesday. "We are waiting for the publication of the report in its entirety," he added in a statement consulted by AFP.
What did Hunter Biden do in Ukraine?
Hunter Biden, a lawyer and investor, served between 2014 and 2019 on the supervisory board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas exploration and production company based in Crimea, while his father Joe Biden was still vice president of Barack Obama. . But the former vice president was at the forefront of US diplomatic negotiations to support Ukraine against Russian aggression.
According to the Washington Post, Joe Biden's activism in Ukraine when his second son was hired by the gas company and paid $ 50,000 a month, aroused suspicion. But the Obama administration had cleared Joe Biden and said he had not committed a reprehensible act. A dossier that Donald Trump hoped to unearth in view of the 2020 presidential campaign.