Democrat report makes forceful impeachment case against Trump
Donald Trump
US Democrats presented aforcefulcasefor impeaching and removing President DonaldTrumpfrom office Tuesday in areportdetailing "overwhelming evidence" of misconduct in office and obstruction.
Immediately dismissed by the White House as the product of a "one-sided sham process," the House Intelligence CommitteereportaccusedTrumpof subverting national security as he pressured Ukraine for dirt on a Democratic election rival.
Behind closed doors late Tuesday, the Democratic-led panel voted 13 to 9, along strict party lines as expected, to officially adopt and issue thereportto the House Judiciary Committee, which is tasked with drafting articles ofimpeachmentagainstthe president.
The 300-page document, meant to serve as the basis for the chargesagainstTrump, also mapped out in detail what it called an unparalleled effort of obstruction, including witness intimidation, to stifle the investigation intoTrump's Ukraine scheme.
"The president placed his personal political interests above the national interests of the United States, sought to undermine the integrity of the US presidential election process, and endangered US national security," said the finalreporton the Intelligence Committee's investigation.
"PresidentTrumpand his senior officials may see nothing wrong with using the power of the office of the president to pressure a foreign country to help the president's reelection campaign," it said.
"However, the Founding Fathers prescribed a remedy for a chief executive who places his personal interests above those of the country:impeachment."
Watch: Donald Trump impeachment hearings set for December 4
'The president's dirty work'
Thereport, the product of a rapid-fire probe sparked by a whistleblower's complaint in August, mapped out a months-long scheme byTrump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and senior diplomats to pressure Ukraine's president into investigating Joe Biden, the current favourite to win the Democratic 2020 White House nomination.
Trumpalso pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate a "conspiracy theory" that it was Ukraine, and not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 US election, to benefit the Democrats.
In both cases, thereportsaid,Trumpconditioned nearly $400 million in US military aid and a high-profile summit with Zelensky on Kiev opening the investigations.
DemocratAdam Schiff, the head of the House Intelligence Committee, said the White House demands left Ukraine, which is under constant threat from Russia-backed rebels, vulnerable asTrumpsought help for his 2020 reelection.
"Thisreportchronicles a scheme by the president of the United States to coerce an ally, Ukraine, that is at war with an adversary, Russia, into doing the president's dirty work," he told reporters.
'Ramblings of a basement blogger'
Secondly, thereportsaid,Trumpactively sought to obstruct the congressional probe, refusing to provide documents to investigators, preventing witnesses from appearing, and threatening some of those who did appear.
"DonaldTrumpis the first president in the history of the United States to seek to completely obstruct animpeachmentinquiry undertaken by the House of Representatives," it said.
"PresidentTrump's ongoing effort to thwart Congress'impeachmentpower risks doing grave harm to the institution of Congress."
In London for a NATO summit,Trumpagain accused the Democrats of playing a political game.
"Theimpeachmentis a hoax. It's turned out to be a hoax. It's done for purely political gain," he said.
His spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham doubled down in dismissing both thereportand Schiff's investigation.
"At the end of a one-sided sham process, Chairman Schiff and the Democrats utterly failed to produce any evidence of wrongdoing by PresidentTrump," she said in a statement.
Thereport"reads like the ramblings of a basement blogger straining to prove something when there is evidence of nothing."
Impeachmentbefore Christmas?
Thereportis expected to form the basis for the Judiciary Committee to draw up formal charges, or articles ofimpeachment, in the coming weeks.
If, as expected, the articles are passed by the Democratic-led House, thecasewill go to the Republican-controlled Senate for trial in January.
The Judiciary panel, which begins meeting Wednesday, has set no formal timeframe.
But Democrats aim to hold a full Houseimpeachmentvote before the body goes on break for Christmas, December 25.
Schiff said that while the Judiciary Committee meets, his panel could continue investigating other angles of the Ukraine scheme, including whetherTrumpactually began much earlier to pressure Zelensky's predecessor Petro Poroshenko for the investigations, and whether some members of Congress were involved.
But he stressed the need to move quickly, accusingTrumpof seeking election help not only from Ukraine but Russia and China.
"There is I think grave risk to the country with waiting until we have every last fact when we already know enough about the president's misconduct to make a responsible judgement," Schiff said.