After weeks of delay, US House to send Trump impeachment charges to Senate

US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump. Picture: Evan Vucci/AP

US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump. Picture: Evan Vucci/AP

Published Jan 15, 2020

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Washington - After weeks of delay, the

House of Representatives is expected on Wednesday to send

impeachment charges against President Donald Trump to the

Senate, clearing the way for that chamber to consider whether

Trump should be removed from office.

The weeks-long trial in the Senate is expected to ultimately

end in the president's acquittal. But it will focus attention on

Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political

rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, as the 2020 presidential

campaign begins in earnest.

Biden is one of 12 candidates vying for the Democratic

nomination, and the trial might still be under way when Iowa and

New Hampshire hold their first nominating contests in early

February.

None of the Senate's 53 Republicans have voiced support for

ousting Trump, a step that would require a two-thirds majority

in the 100-member chamber.

Though the ultimate outcome is not in doubt, the trial could

deliver some moments of drama.

Democrats are pressing to call Trump's former national

security adviser John Bolton as a witness, which could prove

damaging to Trump. Other witnesses in the impeachment inquiry

said Bolton was a vocal critic of the effort to pressure

Ukraine.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has resisted the

idea of calling witnesses at all, saying his chamber should only

consider evidence that has been dug up by the House. But other

Republicans and Trump himself have said they would like to call

witnesses of their own -- including Biden and his son, Hunter

Biden, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

House Democrats indicated late on Wednesday they would

expand their case against Trump, saying they would include phone

records and other documents provided over the weekend by Florida

businessman Lev Parnas, who worked with Trump's personal

attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to pressure Ukraine.

Also on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will reveal

who will serve as prosecutors in the Senate trial. Likely

candidates include House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff, who

led the impeachment investigation, and House Judiciary Committee

Chairman Jerrold Nadler, whose panel crafted the impeachment

charges that were approved by the House in a largely party-line

vote in December.

Wednesday's vote in the House marks the end of an

unsuccessful gambit by Pelosi to pressure McConnell to commit to

calling the witnesses Democrats want.

Pelosi withheld the impeachment articles for four weeks,

drawing accusations from Republicans that she was undercutting

Democrats' arguments that they needed to move quickly to prevent

Trump from securing foreign help in the 2020 election. Democrats

say the delay helped them to unearth more evidence that

bolstered their case.

Reuters

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