The impeachment inquiry for President Donald Trump continues amid criticism from both sides of Congress towards the other.
The president’s impeachment inquiry was initiated by US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, on September 24, after a whistleblower alleged that President Trump abused his power of the presidency by pressuring the leaders of foreign countries to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The president has been accused of doing this to advance his own personal and political interests. Thus far, these allegations have been corroborated by the testimony of top U.S. officials.
In particular, the inquiry’s initial allegations focused on Trump and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, for taking part in a quid-pro-quo campaign to pressure the Ukranian government to take actions that would support the president’s 2020 campaign. In the days after the announcement of the inquiry, additional allegations of misconduct were performed as well as reported.
In the past few weeks, Trump and his defenders have busied themselves with attacking the process by which Trump’s impeachment inquiry has unfolded in the House. In addition to this, they have questioned the integrity of witnesses in the inquiry, engaged in publicity stunts, and violated security protocols; as well as defying subpoenas and withholding witnesses.
On October 31, 2019, a public hearing of the president’s impeachment investigation by the House of Representatives set the stage for when they adopted Democratic rules for how they will conduct the investigations. Republicans have been arguing that the impeachment process has been secretive and unfair.
The recent congressional vote of 232 – 196, which was almost entirely along party lines, is only the fourth time in U.S. history that the full House of Representatives has authorized an impeachment inquiry.
House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) has emphasized the importance of the impeachment inquiry to America by saying, “What is at stake in all of this is nothing less than our democracy… Let us honor the oath of office. Let us defend our democracy.”
