Democrats Accuse Donald Trump Of Abusing Office Power And Obstruction In New Impeachment Report, House Judiciary Committee Preps For First Hearing

In a 300-page report, Democrats of the House Intelligence Committee outlined their case on why #DonaldTrump should be impeached. The new report was released on Tuesday, and the evidence in the report will be used by the House Judiciary Committee to draft specific articles of impeachment, ABC News reports.

The report, more or less, contains the same information previously reported: Trump allegedly abused his power as president by soliciting foreign government (Ukraine) to benefit his reelection. Baller Alert said that Trump bribed Ukraine by withholding nearly $400 million in military/security assistance in exchange for the country to launch a probe into Trump’s political rival, #JoeBiden. “In doing so, the President placed his own personal and political interests above the national interests of the United States, sought to undermine the integrity of the U.S. presidential election process, and endangered U.S. national security,” the Democrats wrote.

The Republicans defended Trump’s actions in their report, which was released Monday, saying Democrats disregarded Trump’s “state of mind,” noting Trump had a “reasonable skepticism” of Ukraine because of its history of corruption. Republicans say there is no overt evidence that would prove Trump’s actions were motivated by political gain. On the opposing end, Democrats have also accused Trump of trying to stop their inquiry, which would support their case for an impeachment article on obstruction. ABC reports that Trump continuously saying the inquiry was a “hoax,” prompted White House ordered witnesses to ignore congressional requests for documents and testimony.

The Democrats also included phone call logs from Trump’s lawyer, #RudyGiuliani, who was consistently in contact with the White House and the budget office. So far, no details about the calls have been released; however, there is one 13-minute phone call example that consists of a conversation between Giuliani and the Office of Management and Budget on Aug. 8. At the time, Giuliani was working with diplomats #KurtVolker and #GordonSondland, to press Ukraine into launching the investigations Trump wanted, according to documents and witness testimony.

Lastly, the Democrats say it’s not just Trump who should be held accountable for his criminal activity in office; his entire crew should be as well. They claim Trump’s inner circle, #MikePence, #MikePompeo, #RickPerry, and #MickMulvaney were as “knowledgeable of or active participants” to “extract from a foreign nation the political benefits sought by the President.”

The report pushes the impeachment inquiry into a new phase. The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold its first hearing on Wednesday. The hearing will include four legal scholars for a discussion about the constitutional standards for impeachment. Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee will focus on whether Trump’s behavior fits those standards.