Pelosi to instruct U.S. House to draft articles of impeachment against Trump
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, citing Donald Trump's "failure to faithfully execute the law," said Thursday she will ask the chair of the intelligence committee to proceed with articles of impeachment against the U.S. president.
The Democrat said the facts were uncontested with respect to Trump's dealings with Ukraine this spring and summer. Military aid and a crucial White House meeting were withheld, she charged, in exchange for Ukraine announcing an investigation into Trump Democratic rival Joe Biden.
"If we allow a president to be above the law, we do so surely at the peril of our republic," she said.
Pelosi did not offer more details on the process.
Democrats could begin drafting articles of impeachment in a matter of days, with a judiciary committee vote next week. The full House could vote by Christmas. The matter would then move to the Senate for a trial in 2020.
Earlier Thursday, Trump tweeted that if impeachment is inevitable, he hoped it would proceed quickly.
More to come
