Nancy Pelosi Says Donald Trump ‘Must Be Held Accountable’ As Impeachment Process Officially Begins
Nancy Pelosi announced on Tuesday that the House is beginning a formal impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. After allegations that the president used his office to pressure a foreign government to investigate his political opponent roiled the American political landscape, the House speaker says that it appears that Trump has violated the constitution and must be held accountable.
According to The New York Times, Pelosi spoke with House Democrats at the Capitol on Tuesday before making the announcement to reporters.
“The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution,” she said, adding that Trump “must be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
Democrats have faced criticism from some on the left for failing to act on what they see as the president’s misconduct, and Pelosi’s announcement comes after months of her urging caution against acting too impulsively. But after it was revealed that Trump had spoken with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in July, when he allegedly urged the Ukrainian leader to investigate the Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden in order to hamper the former vice president’s campaign for president in 2020, more and more Democrats have begun urging Pelosi to push for impeachment.
On Tuesday, the issue came to a head and Pelosi announced that the House would launch a formal inquiry into the July phone call after the White House has refused to share details with Congress about the whistleblower complaint that launched the entire controversy.
“The actions of the Trump presidency revealed dishonorable facts of the president’s betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections,” she said to reporters.
On Tuesday, Trump said that he would release a transcript of the phone call and has repeatedly defended his conduct as “perfect.”
BREAKING
NANCY PELOSI ANNOUNCES #ImpeachmentInquiry
"No one is above the law" #TrumpUkraineScandal pic.twitter.com/zAuqI8MxYK— Amr Khalifa (@Cairo67Unedited) September 24, 2019
When the president was alerted to the possibility of the threat of impeachment, he disregarded the seriousness of the situation, suggesting that it could help him in the upcoming election, as The Inquisitr reported.
“The country’s doing the best it’s ever done, and I just heard she’d like to impeach,” he said. “If [Pelosi] does that, they all say that’s a positive for me in the election. You could also say who needs it. It’s bad for the country.”
Pelosi said in her announcement on Tuesday that six committees have been investigating various offenses related to Trump’s alleged misconduct, and those committees would put together a case for impeachable offenses. Those would be sent to the Judiciary Committee, which could form the basis for the articles of impeachment.
