Rex Fowler
Staff Writer
President Trump is now impeached. Spanning from Sept. 24, 2019, to Dec. 18, 2019, many government officials were involved in the long process to impeach the president. Some government officials like Timothy Morrison have testified that “he was justified in urging Ukraine to investigate corruption, even if allegations involved former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter” and they have argued that “the fight is a disagreement over foreign policy, which the president has the authority to direct,” as reported in USA Today. On the other hand, Democrats have accused Trump of obstruction of Congress and risking the United States’ national security.
Some Republicans had claimed that there was no quid pro quo because according to them, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, was unaware of the $400 million of aid being withheld by Trump. Democrats fulfilled their goal to vote on impeachment before Congress’s Christmas break. Republican Jerrold Nadler hoped the accelerated pace would help prevent any outbursts on Trump’s part.
Government officials that have testified so far are Fiona Hill, the former Trump adviser on Russia, David Holmes, the political counselor to the United States Embassy in Ukraine, Laura K. Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, Gordon D. Sondland, the ambassador to the E.U., George P. Kent, the Deputy assistant secretary of state, Kurt D. Volker the former special envoy to Ukraine, and Marie L. Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine, and former National Security Adviser John Bolton just to name a few.
Now that the Articles of Impeachment have been released, the Democrats’ goals are clear. The first Article is the accuses Trump of violating his oath of office by urging Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 presidential election by asking them to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. In Article One, they also argue that pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens by withholding military aid and a meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Zelensky compromised national security. They also claim that Trump weakened the democratic process and that he “betrayed the nation by abusing his high office to enlist a foreign power in corrupting democratic elections.” said in the articles of impeachment.
Article Two states that the president told people to ignore subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives. The Democrats claim that this is Obstruction of Congress, while Republicans claim it is not. Democrats believe that when Trump allegedly obstructed congressional oversight, he also damaged the proper functioning of the rule of law.
The Senate will now hold a trial and vote on whether or not President Trump will be removed from office.
