Dems Unveil 2 Articles of Impeachment  12/10 08:26

   House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment Tuesday against 
President Donald Trump -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress -- pushing 
toward historic votes over charges he corrupted the U.S. election process and 
endangered national security.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment 
Tuesday against President Donald Trump --- abuse of power and obstruction of 
Congress -- pushing toward historic votes over charges he corrupted the U.S. 
election process and endangered national security.

   Speaker Nancy Pelosi, flanked by the chairmen of the impeachment inquiry 
committees, stood at the Capitol in what she called a "solemn act.'' Voting is 
expected in a matter of days in the Judiciary Committee and by Christmas in the 
full House. Trump insisted he did "NOTHING'' wrong.

   "He endangers our democracy, he endangers our national security," said Rep. 
Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., the Judiciary chairman announcing the charges before a 
portrait of George Washington. "Our next election is at risk... That is why we 
must act now." 

   Trump tweeted ahead of the announcement that impeaching a president with a 
record like his would be "sheer Political Madness!"

   The outcome, though, appears increasingly set as the House prepares for 
voting, as it has only three times in history against a U.S. president. 

   In drafting the articles of impeachment, Pelosi is facing a legal and 
political challenge of balancing the views of her majority while hitting the 
Constitution's bar of "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

   Some liberal lawmakers wanted more expansive charges encompassing the 
findings from former special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian 
interference in the 2016 election. Centrist Democrats preferred to keep the 
impeachment articles more focused on Trump's actions toward Ukraine. House 
Democrats have announced two articles of impeachment charging President Donald 
Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. 

   The charges unveiled Tuesday stem from Trump's pressure on Ukraine to 
announce investigations of his political rivals as he withheld aid to the 
country. 

   THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

   WASHINGTON (AP) --- House Democrats are expected to unveil two articles of 
impeachment Tuesday against President Donald Trump --- abuse of power and 
obstruction of Congress --- pushing toward historic votes as the president 
insists he did "NOTHING" wrong.

   Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of the morning announcement that Trump tried 
to "corrupt our upcoming elections" and remains a "threat to our democracy and 
national security." 

   Pelosi said in a tweet that the House was taking next steps to "defend' the 
democracy."

   Democratic leaders are laying out next steps after their impeachment inquiry 
determined Trump put U.S. elections and national security at risk when he asked 
Ukraine to investigate his rivals, including Democrat Joe Biden, while 
withholding needed military aid. They say he then tried to obstruct Congress' 
investigation. 

   Trump, meanwhile, insisted he did "NOTHING" wrong and that impeaching a 
president with a record like his would be "sheer Political Madness!"

   Democrats have not public released their plans. Details were shared by 
multiple people familiar with the discussions but not authorized to discuss 
them and granted anonymity. 

   Pelosi declined during an event Monday evening to discuss the articles or 
the coming announcement. Details were shared by multiple people familiar with 
the discussions but not authorized to discuss them and granted anonymity. 

   When asked if she has enough votes to impeach the Republican president, 
Pelosi leader said she would let House lawmakers vote their conscience.

   "On an issue like this, we don't count the votes. People will just make 
their voices known on it," Pelosi said at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council. 
"I haven't counted votes, nor will I."

   The outcome, though, appears increasingly set as the House prepares to vote, 
as it has only three times in history against a U.S. president. 

   Trump, who has declined to mount a defense in the impeachment proceedings, 
tweeted Tuesday just as the five Democratic House committee chairmen prepared 
to make their announcement. 

   "To Impeach a President who has proven through results, including producing 
perhaps the strongest economy in our country's history, to have one of the most 
successful presidencies ever, and most importantly, who has done NOTHING wrong, 
is sheer Political Madness! #2020Election," he wrote on Twitter.

   The president also spent part of Monday tweeting against the impeachment 
proceedings. He and his allies have called the process "absurd."

   Pelosi convened a meeting of the impeachment committee chairmen at her 
office in the Capitol late Monday following an acrimonious, nearly 10-hour 
hearing at the Judiciary Committee, which could vote as soon as this week. 

   "I think there's a lot of agreement," Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the 
Democratic chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee, told reporters as he 
exited Pelosi's office. "A lot of us believe that what happened with Ukraine 
especially is not something we can just close our eyes to."

   At the Judiciary hearing, Democrats said Trump's push to have Ukraine 
investigate rival Joe Biden while withholding U.S. military aid ran counter to 
U.S. policy and benefited Russia as well as himself. 

   "President Trump's persistent and continuing effort to coerce a foreign 
country to help him cheat to win an election is a clear and present danger to 
our free and fair elections and to our national security," said Dan Goldman, 
the director of investigations at the House Intelligence Committee, presenting 
the finding of the panel's 300-page report of the inquiry. 

   Republicans rejected not just Goldman's conclusion of the Ukraine matter; 
they also questioned his very appearance before the Judiciary panel. In a 
series of heated exchanges, they said Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the 
Intelligence Committee, should appear rather than sending his lawyer.

   From the White House, Trump tweeted repeatedly, assailing the "Witch Hunt!" 
and "Do Nothing Democrats."

   In drafting the articles of impeachment, Pelosi is facing a legal and 
political challenge of balancing the views of her majority while hitting the 
Constitution's bar of "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

   Some liberal lawmakers wanted more expansive charges encompassing the 
findings from former special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian 
interference in the 2016 election. Centrist Democrats preferred to keep the 
impeachment articles more focused on Trump's actions toward Ukraine. 

   Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., was blunt as he opened Monday's hearing, 
saying, "President Trump put himself before country." 

   Trump's conduct, Nadler said at the end of the daylong hearing, "is clearly 
impeachable." 

   Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Republican on the committee, said 
Democrats are racing to jam impeachment through on a "clock and a calendar" 
ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

   "They can't get over the fact that Donald Trump is the president of the 
United States, and they don't have a candidate that can beat him," Collins said.

   In one testy exchange, Republican attorney Stephen Castor dismissed the 
transcript of Trump's crucial call with Ukraine as "eight ambiguous lines" that 
did not amount to the president seeking a personal political favor.

   Democrats argued vigorously that Trump's meaning could not have been clearer 
in seeking political dirt on Biden, his possible opponent in the 2020 election.

   The Republicans tried numerous times to halt or slow the proceedings, and 
the hearing was briefly interrupted early on by a protester shouting, "We voted 
for Donald Trump!" The protester was escorted from the House hearing room by 
Capitol Police.

   The White House is refusing to participate in the impeachment process. Trump 
and and his allies acknowledge he likely will be impeached in the 
Democratic-controlled House, but they also expect acquittal next year in the 
Senate, where Republicans have the majority. 

   The president was focused instead on Monday's long-awaited release of the 
Justice Department report into the 2016 Russia investigation. The inspector 
general found that the FBI was justified in opening its investigation into ties 
between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia and that the FBI did not act 
with political bias, despite "serious performance failures" up the bureau's 
chain of command.

   Democrats say Trump abused his power in a July 25 phone call when he asked 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a favor in investigating Democrats. 
That was bribery, they say, since Trump was withholding nearly $400 million in 
military aid that Ukraine depended on to counter Russian aggression.

   Pelosi and Democrats point to what they call a pattern of misconduct by 
Trump in seeking foreign interference in elections from Mueller's inquiry of 
the Russia probe to Ukraine. 

   In his report, Mueller said he could not determine that Trump's campaign 
conspired or coordinated with Russia in the 2016 election. But Mueller said he 
could not exonerate Trump of obstructing justice in the probe and left it for 
Congress to determine.


(KR)