House Democrats announced Tuesday two articles of impeachment against President Trump, focusing on abuse of power and obstructing Congress. The announcement comes two and a half months after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry related to Trump’s efforts to have Ukraine investigate his political rivals, including Joe Biden.
“Today, in service to our duty to the Constitution and to our country, the House Committee on the Judiciary is introducing two articles of impeachment charging the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, with committing high crimes and misdemeanors,” Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said at a press conference.
The Judiciary Committee, which heard arguments both for and against impeachment Monday, will vote on the articles later this week, with a vote in the full House to follow next week.
Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, followed Nadler and said “the evidence of the president’s misconduct is overwhelming and uncontested.”
“The president’s oath of office appears to mean very little to him, but the articles put forward today will give us a chance to show that we will defend the Constitution and that our oath means something to us,” he added.
Brad Parscale, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, released a statement after the announcement, saying, “Americans don’t agree with this rank partisanship, but Democrats are putting on this political theater because they don’t have a viable candidate for 2020 and they know it.”
Notably, the articles do not include obstruction of charges related to Trump’s effort to impede Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, or Trump’s many other impeachable offenses.
