Donald Trump Committed ‘Multiple Federal Crimes’ Including Bribery, Wire Fraud, Impeachment Report Alleges
In a tweet last Friday, President Donald Trump complained that the impeachment proceeding against him in the House of Representatives was “not fair.”
“I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong!” he wrote on Twitter.
Yet, on Monday, the House Judiciary Committee published a 169-page report explaining in detail exactly what Democrats on the committee say Trump did wrong.
According to the report, posted online via the House of Representatives site, Trump committed “multiple federal crimes.” Those crimes include bribery and wire fraud, the report says.
Explaining that a president’s offenses are not required to rise to the level of actually being crimes to qualify for impeachment, Trump’s conduct was in fact, “criminal,” and that he “betrayed the people of this nation,” the report says.
The report was released shortly after midnight, early Monday morning. The two articles of impeachment — for “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” — are expected to go the House floor for a vote on Wednesday, according to Politico.
The report outlines what it says was Trump’s scheme, carried out throughout most of 2019, to strong-arm the government of Ukraine to help him in the 2020 election by investigating his prospective political rival, Joe Biden. However, the allegations detailed by the Judiciary Committee also connect Trump’s recent alleged misdeeds to a pattern that goes back to 2016.
During that year’s election, Trump reportedly “welcomed” illegal Russian aid to his campaign, according to findings by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Trump allegedly violated wire fraud laws in his July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as in a call with European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland, the report says. The calls violated the wire fraud law because they were made “in furtherance of an ongoing bribery scheme,” the report says.
The report also counters the claim set forth by Republicans in Congress — and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone — who say that the House impeachment hearings denied Trump his rights to legal due process. Even though those rights do not apply to investigations, the report says, Trump was given the opportunity to exercise his due process rights anyway by offering evidence and witnesses in the case.
Trump simply chose not to do so, the report says, as summarized by Law.com.
While the allegations that Trump committed bribery and wire fraud pertain to the “abuse of power” article of impeachment, the report also addresses the second article, charging Trump with obstruction. As evidence, the report includes a letter from Cipollone stating that the administration refuses to take part in the impeachment proceedings.
The report also cites public statements made by Trump approving of Cipollone’s letter, according to Law.com, saying that Trump “ordered total defiance of House subpoenas,” which makes it “clear that he seeks to obstruct the House” in its impeachment process.
