Trump Faces Historic Rebuke as House Opens Impeachment Debate
Trump is all but certain to become the third U.S. president in history to be impeached when lawmakers gather on Wednesday.
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s legacy will be forever marked on Wednesday by his impeachment at the hands of House Democrats, who say it’s a necessary rebuke for the president’s pursuit of a political vendetta.
The House convened Wednesday morning for what is expected to be hours of debate before a vote that is all but certain to result in Trump becoming the third U.S. president in history to be impeached. The lawmakers gathered in the well of the chamber, as their predecessors did when they voted to impeach Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.
Opening the debate on the two articles of impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump an “ongoing threat to our national security,” and declared that, “If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty.”
Republican Representative Doug Collins of Georgia, a leading defender of the president during Judiciary Committee hearings, said the president did nothing wrong.
“The people of America see through this,” Collins said. “The people of America understand due process and they understand when it is being trampled in the people’s house.”
Trump vented his anger on Twitter, writing that the allegations against him were “SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS.“
The House will spend at least six hours in debate. That will lead to two votes, one on each article of impeachment. One charge is abuse of power, based on Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his family. The other is obstruction of Congress, based on Trump’s refusal to allow aides to testify or to respond to subpoenas for documents.
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Both articles are expected to be adopted on mostly partisan lines, as vote tallies from the Associated Press and New York Times show a majority of House members, all Democrats and one independent, in support.
Trump has defiantly rejected the impeachment process as a predetermined partisan assault. He’s managed to unite the Republican Party fully behind him, and it’s unlikely that anyone in the GOP will join Democrats in voting for his impeachment. Nor is there any sign that Senate Republicans are considering convicting him and removing him from office when they hold a trial next year.
“Can you believe that I will be impeached today by the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, AND I DID NOTHING WRONG! A terrible Thing,” the president wrote on Twitter.
On Tuesday, the president sent an angry, six-page letter to Pelosi, saying the impeachment vote would backfire and fuel his re-election bid.
“Any member of Congress who votes in support of impeachment -- against every shred of truth, fact, evidence and legal principle -- is showing how deeply they revile the voters and how truly they detest America’s Constitutional order,” Trump wrote. “Our Founders feared the tribalization of partisan politics, and you are bringing their worst fears to life.”
Trump contributed language and direction in the drafting of the letter, according to people familiar with the matter. White House aides, including Stephen Miller, were involved, as were Counsel Pat Cipollone and his deputy Pat Philbin.
Pelosi, in her own letter to lawmakers on Tuesday, wrote that their oaths “make us custodians of the Constitution.”
“If we do not act, we will be derelict in our duty,” she said.
Roughly around the same time as the House votes, Trump is expected to issue a public rebuttal at a campaign rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, a Republican redoubt in a traditionally Democratic state that was critical to Trump’s 2016 win and will be key to his re-election chances next year.
Voters are split on whether Trump should be removed from office, with about 47% in favor and 48% opposed, according to polling data aggregated by RealClearPolitics.
‘Defend Our Democracy’
Democrats’ first article of impeachment finds Trump abused the power of his office by withholding military assistance from Ukraine and pressuring President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate the Bidens. The second article finds that Trump obstructed Congress’s inquiry into his dealings with Ukraine, including by directing White House employees to defy lawmakers’ subpoenas to testify.
After Wednesday’s votes, a Democratic delegation will formally deliver the articles of impeachment to the secretary of the Senate, the first step toward a trial in that chamber to determine whether Trump will be removed from office.
Under the Constitution, conviction and removal from office requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate, a near-impossible outcome in the Republican-controlled chamber. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will hold the trial early next year and that he favors an expeditious process.
Almost all House Democrats say they will vote to impeach. No House Republicans are expected to break ranks by voting against the president, fully tying their political fortunes to Trump in their 2020 races.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise predicted defections among moderate Democrats, who he asserted were “scared to death” of the political fallout from the impeachment effort.
“This will be a stain on Nancy Pelosi’s legacy,” Scalise said in an interview Wednesday morning with Fox Business Network.
Charm Offensive
More than nine in 10 self-described Republicans in a newly released CNN poll said Trump should not be impeached and removed, while 78% said it is unlikely that anything will come up at a subsequent Senate trial that would change their mind.
The White House has led a charm offensive throughout the fall to keep GOP lawmakers close. A select group of House Republicans were invited to Camp David last weekend, according to a person familiar with the matter, one of several similar visits the White House has arranged for his congressional allies.
On Tuesday, Trump tweeted endorsements for several congressional Republicans, including Representative Kay Granger of Texas, Denver Riggleman of Virginia, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma and Buddy Carter of Georgia. A person familiar with the matter said the White House legislative affairs office has recently approached Republicans facing competitive primary elections and promised the president’s support, including tweeted endorsements, even if their voting records aren’t 100% in line with the White House.
Rather than focus on defending Trump’s actions with regard to Ukraine, many House Republicans have instead criticized the impeachment process as a politically motivated effort by Democrats who have been determined to oust Trump since his first day in office. The president’s approval rating among GOP voters has remained around 90% since his inauguration.
Only two Democrats, Representatives Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, have said they are voting against impeachment. Van Drew is considering switching political parties, according to several news reports.
Pressure Campaigns
The White House and its allies are still seeking to pressure vulnerable Democrats before the Wednesday vote, targeting the 31 House members who won election in 2018 in districts that Trump had won in 2016.
Outside conservative groups are urging supporters to inundate those moderate Democrats’ offices with calls and social media messages opposing impeachment and to show up at town hall meetings.
Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin said her group is part of a broader coalition called “Fight Impeachment Now,” which is made up of other national and local conservative organizations. She said they will continue their activities through a Senate trial.
“Our focus has been on being a force multiplier for those on Capitol Hill defending the president in this impeachment witch hunt,” she said in a phone interview.
The president’s campaign on Tuesday released its own polling that it said shows “impeachment is seriously endangering” Trump-district Democrats. The survey found that 53% of about 900 likely voters across 30 of the contested districts oppose impeachment, with a margin of error of about 3.27 percentage points.
“People will remember how those Democrats spent their time and the taxpayer’s money, which is a big waste,” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday on Fox News.
--With assistance from Saleha Mohsin, Jennifer Jacobs, Justin Sink and Laura Curtis.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jordan Fabian in Washington at jfabian6@bloomberg.net;Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, ;Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo
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