Leading Democrats have raised the prospect of a new push to impeach Donald Trump over attempts by the White House to damage Joe Biden’s presidential campaign through a Ukrainian corruption inquiry.
A series of leading figures have said the scandal, which saw Mr Trump and his allies urge the Ukrainian authorities to re-open a dormant investigation into Mr Biden’s son Hunter, was so serious it demanded the ultimate sanction of impeachment.
Eric Swalwell, a Democratic congressman who previously ran for president and sits on the intelligence and judiciary committees, said a stranger had approached him at an airport to insist on Mr Trump’s impeachment.
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“You all better get your act together and impeach him,” the man told him.
This echoes remarks by the chair of the House intelligence committee, Adam Schiff, who said the president’s conduct around the Biden-Ukraine affair that impeachment was “the only remedy that is coequal to the evil”.
Shape Created with Sketch. Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies Show all 7 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies 1/7 Doctors and mothers killing babies At a rally in Wisconsin in April 2019, Mr Trump made this extraordinary claim. “The baby is born, the mother meets with the doctor, they take care of the baby,” Mr Trump said. “They wrap the baby beautifully and then the doctor and the mother decide whether they will execute the baby” Getty 2/7 "China rapes our country" At a rally in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 2016, Mr Trump said this in reference to the US trade deficit with China: "we can’t continue to allow China to rape our country and that’s what they’re doing. It’s the greatest theft in the history of the world" Getty 3/7 "EU formed to take advantage of US" At a rally for the midterm elections in October 2018, Mr Trump called the EU a "brutal" alliance that "formed to take advantage of us" AFP/Getty 4/7 "I will build a wall and Mexico will pay for it" Mr Trump first made this claim at the launch of his presidential campaign back in 2015: "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words" AFP/Getty 5/7 "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty 6/7 "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" Mr Trump said this in reference to his popularity during a rally in Iowa in 2016 AFP/Getty 7/7 "I wish I could punch him" Mr Trump said this in reference to a protester who was escorted out of his rally in Las Vegas on 22 February, 2016. There was often violence between protesters and supporters at Trump's campaign rallies AFP/Getty 1/7 Doctors and mothers killing babies At a rally in Wisconsin in April 2019, Mr Trump made this extraordinary claim. “The baby is born, the mother meets with the doctor, they take care of the baby,” Mr Trump said. “They wrap the baby beautifully and then the doctor and the mother decide whether they will execute the baby” Getty 2/7 "China rapes our country" At a rally in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 2016, Mr Trump said this in reference to the US trade deficit with China: "we can’t continue to allow China to rape our country and that’s what they’re doing. It’s the greatest theft in the history of the world" Getty 3/7 "EU formed to take advantage of US" At a rally for the midterm elections in October 2018, Mr Trump called the EU a "brutal" alliance that "formed to take advantage of us" AFP/Getty 4/7 "I will build a wall and Mexico will pay for it" Mr Trump first made this claim at the launch of his presidential campaign back in 2015: "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words" AFP/Getty 5/7 "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty 6/7 "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" Mr Trump said this in reference to his popularity during a rally in Iowa in 2016 AFP/Getty 7/7 "I wish I could punch him" Mr Trump said this in reference to a protester who was escorted out of his rally in Las Vegas on 22 February, 2016. There was often violence between protesters and supporters at Trump's campaign rallies AFP/Getty
Even Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House and leader of congressional Democrats, who has long downplayed the prospects of impeachment, said the scandal-rocked White House was set to enter a “grave new chapter of lawlessness which will take us into a whole new stage of investigation”.
The complex case revolves around Hunter Biden, who was appointed to the board of a Ukrainian gas company in 2014, while his father was vice-president and shortly after the revolution which overthrew the country’s pro-Russia government.
Two years later, Joe Biden led a drive by Western nations to get Ukraine to fire its chief prosecutor, who was seen as weak on corruption.
Mr Trump and his supporters have claimed for months the Bidens’ conduct was itself corrupt and the firing of the prosecutor an attempt to stop him investigating Hunter Biden’s gas company post.
The president has now admitted he even used the Bidens as an example of the corruption Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy must root out, during a July phone call with the newly elected leader.
“It was largely the fact that we don’t want our people, like Vice President Biden and his son, creating to the corruption already in the Ukraine,” he told reporters.
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Mr Biden has insisted there was nothing wrong with either his son joining the gas firm’s board or his actions over the fired prosecutor.
Earlier this year a leading Ukrainian official said there had been no wrongdoing by the Bidens, and the presidential candidate has now accused Mr Trump of an “overwhelming abuse of power” and called for an investigation.
“Trump’s doing this because he knows I’ll beat him like a drum,” he told reporters during a campaign stop in Iowa.
The latest chapter in the row between the White House and Democrats was sparked by the refusal of Mr Trump’s director of national intelligence to release a formal whistleblower complaint made by someone working for the United States’ intelligence agencies.
The person had made the report in August after becoming concerned Mr Trump’s July phone call had included “troubling” promises with a foreign leader, The Washington Post has reported.
The Wall Street Journal has reported Mr Trump asked eight times during the conversation for Mr Zelenskiy to open an investigation into the Bidens.
In addition, Mr Trump’s pugnacious personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has admitted he also asked for an anti-Biden probe to be launched during meetings with senior Ukrainian officials organised by the Trump administration.
Mr Schiff has issued a legal summons for the White House to hand over the substance of the complaint but has been rebuffed, sparking a constitutional tussle and growing calls for impeachment.
Mr Trump had “crossed the Rubicon” if the latest reports of his conduct were accurate, the senior Democrat said. Referring to Mr Giuliani, he added: “Betraying your country…is one thing when it’s done by the court jester, another thing when by the man who would be king.”
meatball402 on September 23rd, 2019 at 11:29 UTC »
Trump did what Nixon did.
But instead of sending a few people to break into a hotel to get dirt on an opponent, he tried to bully the country of Ukraine to do it.
viva_la_vinyl on September 23rd, 2019 at 11:13 UTC »
there's also the sheer black-and-white facts of the matter: a president repeatedly pushing a foreign leader for damaging information on a domestic rival when the country in question is looking for U.S. aid
8to24 on September 23rd, 2019 at 10:38 UTC »
Waiting out bigots in South wasn't how civil rights were won. Showing up draft number in hand waving an American flag isn't what finally got us out if Vietnam. People need to make noise. People need to stand in stark opposition to what's happening. Wait till 2020 fingers crossed that the election will be fair is a fool's errand.