AFP
Washington
The US House of Representatives will vote on Wednesday on sending articles of Impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate, setting the stage for the president’s trial for abuse of power, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced.
"The American people deserve the truth, and the Constitution demands a trial,” she said in a statement on Tuesday. "The House will now proceed with a vote on transmitting the articles of Impeachment and naming Impeachment managers on Wednesday, January 15. The president and the senators will be held accountable.”
Trump became only the third US president to be impeached on December 18 when the House voted to formally charge him with illicitly seeking help from Ukraine for his reelection campaign this year.
Trump has branded the case a "hoax” and a "witch hunt” but the White House was girding for a trial that could present damaging evidence against the US leader on national television over two weeks or more.
Pelosi had delayed delivering the articles of impeachment to pressure the Republican-controlled Senate to agree to subpoena witnesses with direct knowledge of Trump’s pressuring Ukraine to announce a corruption probe into potential Democratic rival Joe Biden. But with Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell refusing to agree up front on the witness issue, Pelosi has decided to move ahead.
That could see the Senate open trial proceedings as early as Wednesday, with the presentation of the articles of impeachment, the swearing in of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as presiding judge, and then Roberts swearing in the 100 senators to act as jurors in the case.
"It’s going to be very soon,” Democratic representative Raja Krishnamurthi told MSNBC.
"People were united, they were resolute in the notion that articles, once transmitted to the Senate, need to be heard and there needs to be a fair trial. And that means witnesses and additional documents.”
Washington
The US House of Representatives will vote on Wednesday on sending articles of Impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate, setting the stage for the president’s trial for abuse of power, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced.
"The American people deserve the truth, and the Constitution demands a trial,” she said in a statement on Tuesday. "The House will now proceed with a vote on transmitting the articles of Impeachment and naming Impeachment managers on Wednesday, January 15. The president and the senators will be held accountable.”
Trump became only the third US president to be impeached on December 18 when the House voted to formally charge him with illicitly seeking help from Ukraine for his reelection campaign this year.
Trump has branded the case a "hoax” and a "witch hunt” but the White House was girding for a trial that could present damaging evidence against the US leader on national television over two weeks or more.
Pelosi had delayed delivering the articles of impeachment to pressure the Republican-controlled Senate to agree to subpoena witnesses with direct knowledge of Trump’s pressuring Ukraine to announce a corruption probe into potential Democratic rival Joe Biden. But with Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell refusing to agree up front on the witness issue, Pelosi has decided to move ahead.
That could see the Senate open trial proceedings as early as Wednesday, with the presentation of the articles of impeachment, the swearing in of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as presiding judge, and then Roberts swearing in the 100 senators to act as jurors in the case.
"It’s going to be very soon,” Democratic representative Raja Krishnamurthi told MSNBC.
"People were united, they were resolute in the notion that articles, once transmitted to the Senate, need to be heard and there needs to be a fair trial. And that means witnesses and additional documents.”