U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the entire house would vote on November 31 to confirm the legitimacy of the formal impeachment process against Donald Trump.

“We are taking this step to reliably establish whether the Trump administration is holding documents, preventing witnesses from testifying, ignoring duly issued orders, and continuing to obstruct the House of Representatives. Everyone is equal before the law, ”said Pelosi’s written appeal published on the speaker’s website.

According to Pelosi, White House officials “baselessly state that the impeachment investigation conducted by the House of Representatives“ was not duly authorized, ”which means it is not considered a lawful procedure.

“They say that since the vote in the House of Representatives did not take place, one can pretend that there is no investigation into impeachment. Of course, such arguments are completely untenable, ”Pelosi added.

As Andrei Sidorov, head of the department of international organizations and world political processes at the Moscow State University’s Department of World Politics, explained in an interview with RT, with this step the Democratic Party wants to strengthen its position on impeachment in the legal field.

“By law, the entire House of Representatives must vote in order to indict the president, and not the individual committees that prepare the charges. Therefore, it is important that the entire House of Representatives, including the Republican faction, take part in the discussion and vote, ”said the expert.

Gone to failure

The statement by Nancy Pelosi was a kind of response to the Trump administration's refusal to participate in any way in the investigation of congressional committees on the impeachment of the US president. On October 8, White House legal adviser Pat Chippolone sent a letter to the heads of the congressional committees stating that their investigations were devoid of any constitutional grounds and “not even the appearance of an honest approach and basic observance of guarantees of legal proceedings”.

  • US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
  • Reuters
  • © Erin Scott

The letter stated that the impeachment initiators “violate civil liberties and the principle of separation of powers, threaten executive representatives with punishment for defending their constitutional rights and prerogatives.”

According to Chippolone, the investigation is carried out for purely political reasons.

In the two previous cases, when a formal impeachment procedure was initiated against the US presidents, a preliminary vote was required on this issue, in which all members of the House of Representatives would participate. This is called a full-chamber vote, as all congressmen participate in it. It is necessary to start an investigation of congressional committees and empower them to write summons and hold hearings in the course of the impeachment procedure itself, which formally constitutes a lawsuit.

Similar votes were taken both in 1974, when the impeachment procedure was initiated against the 37th US President Richard Nixon, and in 1998, when the Republican Congress demanded the removal of the 42nd US President Bill Clinton from power.

Political boomerang

Recall that prominent Republican politicians called the impeachment process carried out by the Democrats illegitimate. For example, Utah Senator Republican Mitt Romney, who often criticizes Donald Trump, previously stated that in order for the impeachment procedure to be legitimate, a full House vote is required.

Republicans also say that the impeachment procedure is "mostly behind closed doors." This, in particular, was stated by one of the main supporters of Trump in the Senate Lindsay Graham. In addition, according to the senator, Republicans have limited access to the impeachment process.

  • Congress House of Representatives
  • Reuters
  • © Jim Young

He called the current investigations as part of the procedure for removing the head of state from power the “Star Chamber” - this is the name of closed courts in the American political tradition, the outcome of which is predetermined by representatives of the establishment.

However, as experts recall, the procedural rules for impeachment proceedings, which the Republican Party is now opposing, have been introduced into the system of work of the lower house of Congress by the Republicans themselves.

So, testimony in congressional committees behind closed doors, which many Republicans criticize, became the norm during the investigation into the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libyan Benghazi. Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy noted in 2015 that “closed hearings are much more effective.”

The same applies to the issuance of summons without consultation with a minority party. Most congressional committee heads did not have that authority before the 2010 Republican control of the House of Representatives. In a confrontation with the democratic administration of Barack Obama, Republicans in Congress doubled the number of committees whose heads could write summons to testify in Congress.

Such a change of rules has led to the fact that the impeachment procedure is much more complicated, said Andrei Sidorov.

“This is a very complicated procedure, because the committees must collect indictments about the president’s violation of his powers as head of state, which must be supported by certain sources and for which the majority in the house of representatives should vote. Then they will be sent to the Senate, which must decide whether these charges are legitimate or not, ”the expert explained.

Therefore, the beginning of impeachment in 2019 is unlikely, said Andrei Sidorov.

“Most likely, this year they will begin to formulate documents that will only get to the Senate in the spring, when the new election race will gain momentum. And then the question will be how many Trump supporters are in the US Senate. After all, we must remember that when the indictment against Richard Nixon passed to the Senate, no one wanted to support him, and he had to write a letter of resignation, ”the political scientist said.

Ukrainian impeachment

Recall that in September the White House published a transcript of a telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky, from which it followed that the US president asked Zelensky to investigate the circumstances of the dismissal of former Ukrainian Attorney General Viktor Shokin and the degree of participation of former US Vice President Joe Biden in this. Shokin led anti-corruption proceedings against the gas company Burisma, whose board of directors included Hunter Biden, the son of a former US vice president.

This gave the Democratic Party a reason to initiate an impeachment process against Donald Trump, accusing him of trying to attract a foreign power with the aim of interfering in US elections. Trump himself denies these allegations and claims that his actions were motivated by the fight against corruption.

Despite the fact that the Democratic Party managed to find a reason to start a formal impeachment procedure, Donald Trump has good chances to get out of it without losses, says Andrei Sidorov.

“Trump has pretty good chances right now, because according to various sources, from 45% to 49% of Americans support him - this is a fairly large percentage, despite the fact that since he came to power there has been a constant stream of dirt from the media and democrats,” expert noted.

However, the Trump administration can feel confident as long as the steadily high rates of the US economy remain, added Andrei Sidorov.

“The US economic indicators are normal, the economic growth rate is high. As long as the lowest unemployment rate remains, and household incomes really increase, Trump will have a strong position. If his economic indicators fall, a recession begins, then deserters will appear in the Republican party, who, saving their place, will play along with the Democrats, since next year not only the president but also part of the congress will be re-elected, ”Sidorov explained.

In turn, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research, Vladimir Bruter, believes that no actions by Democrats will lead to the removal of Donald Trump from power.

“Democrats do not care what to say and what kind of vote to hold. They understand that there will be no impeachment. The Democratic Party just wants to warm up the audience, once again roll on Trump and how to come up with some mechanism for the publication of certain stories that, they believe, discredit and discredit the US leader. Obviously, Trump will enter the presidential election next year and will be a rival to the Democrats. The procedure that is currently underway, in fact, will not hinder him, but whether it will affect the election results is still unknown, ”the expert concluded.