Impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump

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First impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump
Accused Donald Trump
( President of the United States )
Head of proceedings
( House of Representatives )
Nancy Pelosi
( Speaker of the House of Representatives ), Adam Schiff
(Chairman of the Intelligence Committee , Jerrold Nadler
(Chairman of the Judiciary Committee )
Head of proceedings
( Senate )
John Roberts ( Chief Justice ),
7 House Managers,
Trump's legal aid team
Investigation started on September 24, 2019
Charged on 18th December 2019
Submitted to the Senate on January 15, 2020
Senate proceedings January 16, 2020 (opening formalities)
to February 5 (votes on indictment)
reason Ukraine affair
Charges Abuse of Power / Obstruction of Congress
exit “Abuse of power”:
48 senators vote for guilty, 52 for innocent
Obstruction of Congress:
47 senators vote for guilty, 53 for innocent
Result: acquittal on both counts
Second impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump
Accused Donald Trump
( President of the United States )
Head of proceedings
( House of Representatives )
Jamie Raskin
(representative of the state of Maryland )
Investigation started on January 6, 2021
Charged on January 13, 2021
reason Storm on the Capitol
Charges Incitement to insurrection

The impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump in 2019/20 and 2021 were aimed at the premature removal of the US president from office. Donald Trump is the first head of state in the history of the United States against whom two proceedings of this kind have been initiated.

The first impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump were launched in the United States Senate after an anonymous whistleblower accused him of abusing his office by calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in a phone call on July 25, 2019 , to give him benefits in return in the United States presidential election in 2020 to gain investigation was the spokeswoman of the US house of representatives , Nancy Pelosi , launched on 24 September 2019 after being presented by the Democratic party that Trump in the context of Ukraine affair personal office for purposes abused had. In the investigation, witnesses, primarily diplomats and government officials, were interviewed in public and private hearings in October and November 2019. After the final reports were presented, the official impeachment proceedings began on December 18, 2019, with Trump being charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Due to concerns that the trial might not be fair, Pelosi hesitated to move the indictment to the Senate beyond the winter recess and did not have the indictment delivered to the Senate by the House's appointed managers until January 15, 2020. The following day, the Senate trial began with the opening ceremonies, with Chief Justice John Roberts being sworn in as chairman and all senators as jury members. After a vote on the rules and the course of the procedure on January 21, 2020, both sides held their opening arguments one after the other from January 22 to 28. They were followed by a two-day question and answer session from the senators. On February 3, 2020, the prosecution and defense made their closing statements. On February 5, the two counts of abuse of office and obstruction of Congress were voted on, with the Republican majority in the Senate acquitting Trump on both counts.

The second impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump were initiated as a result of the storm on the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021 . Numerous Democrats had called for a riot lawsuit to be initiated. In addition, they asked Vice President Mike Pence to remove Trump from office with the help of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution . However, Pence did not respond immediately, so the Democrats proceeded with a dismissal process.

First impeachment proceedings

background

A phone call between Presidents Zelenskyi (left) and Trump is at the center of the affair

The impeachment investigation began after an anonymous whistleblower accused President Donald Trump of abusing his office by making a phone call on July 25, 2019, urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to give him benefits in the presidential election in return the United States 2020 . Trump had asked him to investigate his political rival Joe Biden , his son Hunter Biden and the Ukrainian company Burisma , as well as to support the conspiracy theory that Ukraine (and not Russia ) was behind the disruption of the 2016 presidential campaign . Because Trump had prevented the payment of military aid before the talks, he was accused of having used it - or the prospect of a meeting in the White House with Zelenskyi - in a quid pro quo to get Ukraine to investigate.

On September 25, 2019, Trump released a memorandum - not a full verbatim rendering - of the conversation. The whistleblower's complaint was presented to Congress on the same day and made available to the public the following day.

Investigations

After it became known that the complaint existed, public and Democratic pressure mounted on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump. Until then, she had been skeptical of the process and often referred to the high formal and content-related hurdles. On September 22, 2019, prior to the release of the documents, she said that if they continued to be withheld, the government would open a serious new chapter of lawless conduct that would lead Congress to a new level of investigation. Adam Schiff , the chairman of the secret service committee , who until then had been very cautious about impeachment proceedings, said that the Rubicon must have been crossed. On September 24, 2019, the Democrats in Congress officially opened an impeachment investigation.

Refusal to cooperate

On October 8, Pat Cipollone , the White House legal advisor , wrote a letter to Pelosi, Schiff, Eliot Engel , chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs , and Elijah Cummings , chairman of the oversight committee, stating that the White House was at the Investigation against Trump will not cooperate. It is an unconstitutional and partisan attempt to reverse the result of the 2016 presidential election and is invalid because there was no vote on the investigation. Pelosi called the letter an attempt by the White House to cover up its betrayal of democracy and warned that any attempt to hide the truth about Trump's abuse of office from the American people would be seen as an obstacle to justice.

Rudy Giuliani said in an interview on October 8, 2019 that he would only testify before the committees if Adam Schiff was released from chairmanship of the intelligence committee in a vote. On October 15, he sent a letter from his advisor, Jon Sale, to inform him that he would disobey a September 30 subpoena because the investigation was illegitimate. Schiff replied that if Giuliani did not cooperate, it would be forced to take it as further evidence of obstruction of justice and that it would reinforce the allegations of cover-up. Vice President Mike Pence , through a letter from his adviser Matthew Morgan, refused to cooperate with a Democratic request for documents concerning Ukraine.

Following Trump's instructions not to cooperate with the investigation, several government officials refused to comply with subpoenas issued by the governing committees. In early November, for example, John Eisenberg, Michael Ellis and Robert Blair, advisors to various agencies, and Brian McCormack, Michael Duffey and Russel Vought, employees of the Office of Management and Budget , did not appear at scheduled hearings. Ulrich Brechbuhl, advisor to Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo, traveled with him to Germany instead.

Charles Kupperman , former deputy to National Security Advisor John Bolton , filed a motion in federal court on October 25, a few days before the scheduled date of his hearing, to see if he should obey the subpoena or Trump's orders. He will not testify before the committees of the investigation until the judge has decided, but he will obey such a decision. The House of Representatives withdrew Kupperman's subpoena on November 6, advising him to follow the Don McGahn trial , which should be resolved earlier . Bolton endorsed Kupperman's motion, but both opposed White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney lining up.

The trial in the case of Don McGahn , former White House legal advisor , who was mentioned numerous times in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report, was intended to clarify whether a subpoena could have forced a testimony from him. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled on November 25th that McGahn had to testify, writing: "Nobody is above the law," and "Presidents are not kings!" The government immunity cited by Trump is a "mere fiction". The precedent would have had an impact on whether non-cooperating witnesses, such as Kupperman and Bolton, as well as Mulvaney, Giuliani and Pompeo, had to testify in connection with the Ukraine affair. Trump tweeted that although he wanted them to testify, he was also fighting for future presidents. In a letter to his colleagues, Adam Schiff wrote that the White House's ban on statements could be added as an additional reason for impeachment.

Non-public hearings

Letter from the Governing Committees with text messages from Kurt Volker, Gordon Sondland and Bill Taylor attached - PDF, 25 pages

In October 2019, Adam Schiff stated that a statement from the whistleblower in Congress may no longer be necessary so that his identity would remain secret and the person would be protected.

The resigned special envoy Kurt Volker testified on October 3 in a hearing lasting more than eight hours. He described Giuliani as the driving force behind efforts to persuade Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and its influence on Trump's image of Ukraine. Volker had arranged for Giuliani to meet a close advisor to Zelensky. Volker also presented Congress with text messages between himself and diplomats Gordon Sondland and Bill Taylor, as well as with Ukrainian officials and Giuliani, which were released by the governing committees on the same day. They were supposed to show that Volker and Sondland were actively involved in further advancing Trump's goal of a Ukrainian investigation, while Taylor described the reluctance to provide military aid for this goal as "crazy". Volker and Sondland are said to have prepared a text that Zelenskyj should read out when the investigation was publicly announced. Volker returned to Congress on October 16 to review his statements.

After the dismissed Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch was previously ordered by the State Department not to appear for a voluntary interview, the Democrats issued a subpoena. Yovanovitch testified before House committees on Oct.11 that Trump had urged the State Department to fire her. According to a statement by Deputy Foreign Minister John J. Sullivan to her, this pressure had existed since the summer of 2018; he also assured her that she had done nothing wrong.

Fiona Hill , a former senior Trump adviser and specialist on Russia, told Congress on October 14 that Giuliani and United States Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, had bypassed the National Security Council and normal White House process to operate a “shadow policy” in Ukraine for Trump's personal gain. According to her statement, then National Security Advisor John R. Bolton was reportedly alarmed by the action and advised her to report it to the National Security Council attorney. Republican MP Matt Gaetz , who was not a member of the committees chairing the meeting, attempted to gain access to the hearing. He was removed from the room.

Gordon Sondland, United States Ambassador to the European Union

George Kent , a State Department diplomat in Kyiv responsible for US Ukraine policy, met with investigators on October 15 after the department ordered him not to testify and House Democrats were forced to issue a subpoena. Earlier this year, he had raised concerns about the pressure Trump and Giuliani were using against Ukraine to investigate Trump's political opponents. In emails he allegedly criticized allegations against Yovanovitch by conservative commentators as a fakenews campaign and also disapproved of Ukrainian prosecutors. Kent had told the investigators that after a meeting with Mick Mulvaney in May 2019 by Gordon Sondland, Kurt Volker and Rick Perry , who described themselves as the three people responsible for Ukraine politics from then on, he was aware of Ukraine political processes Decisions had been excluded. As CNN reported on October 18, according to Kent's testimony, Rudy Giuliani is said to have asked the State Department and the White House in January 2019 to grant a visa to Ukrainian lawyer Viktor Schokin , who was sacked under pressure from Joe Biden , so that he can enter the United States and from there could further investigate against the Bidens. Giuliani said Schokin told him he had found evidence of coordination between the Democrats and individuals in Ukraine, as well as hints about Hunter Biden. In addition, according to Giuliani, Schokin is believed to have believed that Marie L. Yovanovitch was the one who refused his visa.

An adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo , Michael McKinley , who resigned on October 11, testified on October 16 that he did so because Ukraine policy had been wrested from professional diplomats.

Gordon Sondland should have appeared before the investigative committees on October 8 because text messages showed his close contact with Zelenskyi in an effort to broker a meeting with Trump, and had agreed to testify voluntarily without subpoena. However, Trump blocked Sondland's testimony and called the committees of inquiry " kangaroo court ". Sondland finally testified on October 17, calling the decisions to withhold military aid to urge the Ukrainian government to investigate and dismiss Yovanovitch as wrong and distancing himself from Giuliani. According to Sondland's statement, Trump is said to have instructed diplomats in Ukraine to cooperate with Giuliani, which disappointed the diplomats. But he was not aware that Trump and Giuliani were talking about the Bidens. Sondlands attorney Robert Luskin later reported the Wall Street Journal that Sondland told against the committee members that he believed the arrangement that a meeting between Trump and Selenskyj only materialize come if Ukraine agree investigations against Trump's political opponent, a quid pro quo resulting . In a new written statement at the beginning of November, which Sondland submitted to the congressional committees and which was published by them on November 5, Sondland corrected his previous statements by admitting that the government's payment of the aid temporarily depends directly on Ukrainian investigations against the Biden have made. Sondland had previously said in his earlier statements that he did not know whether such a connection existed. In his new testimony, he said that in a conversation on September 1, he had told Ukrainian government official Andrij Yermak that the resumption of US military aid would probably not take place until President Volodymyr Zelenskyj publicly announced the investigation Trump wanted .

Bill Taylor , the charge d'affaires of the US Embassy in Kiev since June 2019 after Yovanovitchs dismissal, said on 22 October that Trump had retained the military aid, to the Ukrainian president agree to investigate the Bidens. Taylor reported on a phone call with Sondland that Trump told him he wanted Zelenskyi to publicly announce a Ukraine investigation into Burisma and alleged Ukraine interference in the 2016 presidential election. Sondland also said that everything depends on such an announcement, including security support. Taylor said it had been clear to him since mid-July that a meeting between Zelensky and Trump was on the condition of an investigation into Burisma and that that condition was driven by Giuliani. Media reports see these statements as confirmation of a quid pro quo . MEP Debbie Wasserman Schultz commented that this statement could not lead to any other conclusion than that the President had abused his power.

Pelosi published a four-page fact sheet on October 22, quoting the phone call and the whistleblower complaint as evidence, listing the allegations against Trump and explaining how the president had betrayed his oath of office, national security and the integrity of the elections for his personal gain .

On October 23, Laura Cooper , a senior official with the Department of Defense, appeared after being compulsorily summoned for a hearing, despite the department saying it would not cooperate with the investigation. Her testimony was delayed for several hours as about 30 Trump-loyal Republican MPs, led by Matt Gaetz, loudly entered the security room where the House Intelligence Committee met. They blocked the hearing for about five hours in an attempt to divert public attention from testifying to the President's misconduct and to delegitimize the entire process against him. They also brought their electronic devices, such as cell phones, into the room, where they were forbidden for security reasons, so they had to be collected. Republican MP Alex Mooney later shared the audio recording of a call he made from inside the room. Democrats commented that he was making his own security breach public. The Republicans also ordered pizza, which was also delivered to the building. After the troublemakers left the building, Laura Cooper began her testimony, which lasted less than four hours, and technically explained how foreign aid is paid out. She is said to have shown that the Ukrainian aid had deviated from the usual process.

Philip Reeker , a senior foreign minister in the European and Eurasian Affairs Bureau since March 2019, testified on October 26 about Marie Yovanovitch's release in May, completing a subpoena after the ministry ordered him not to appear , and wanted to limit his statement. He handed Congress emails defending Yovanovitch. In it, he described the campaign against them as a Fakenews-driven smear campaign. Together with George Kent, he had raised concerns about the way Yovanovitch was being treated with high-ranking employees. He urged the diplomats David Hale and Ulrich Brechbuhl, the advisor to Foreign Minister Pompeo, to give Yovanovitch public support, but they refused. Reeker also supported unsuccessful efforts by Michael McKinley to get a public statement in support of Yovanovitch. Before Reeker's hearing on Saturday, Republican MP Jim Jordan wrote a letter to Reeker on Wednesday asking why his hearing was postponed to Saturday and not on a working day.

Alexander Vindman's opening statement - PDF, 6 pages

On October 29, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman , Ukraine's senior expert on the National Security Council , testified as the first acting White House employee, completing a subpoena despite government efforts to block statements by White House officials . In his opening statement, he said that in spring 2019 he became aware of outside influences promoting a false Ukraine narrative that is inconsistent with the consensus views of the interagency body and is detrimental to government policy. Vindman has reported his concerns about government efforts regarding Ukraine to the National Security Council's lawyer on two occasions. The first took place after a July 10 meeting between Oleksandr Danylyuk , Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine , and Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton , which was also attended by Volker, Sondland and Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Sondland asked Ukraine to investigate as a condition for meeting Trump. During a debriefing, Vindman described Sondland's statements as inappropriate and reported this to the lawyer for the National Security Council. He had also overheard the phone call between Trump and Zelenskyi on July 25 and shared his concerns with his superiors. Vindman also reported that the White House memorandum on the phone call omitted essential words and sentences from Trump regarding the Biden and had apparently been intentionally changed in some places. For his statements, Vindnam was discredited and verbally abused by Trump, Republicans and on the Fox News Channel .

Catherine Croft , a former National Security Council official, testified Oct. 30 that the former Republican MP made multiple phone calls to urge her to fire Marie Yovanovitch. He called these remnants of Obama and associated them with George Soros . Croft reported the calls to Fiona Hill and George Kent. Democratic MP Debbie Wasserman Schultz told the press that this is the first time that Livingston has been referred to in the investigation.

Tim Morrison, a top White House advisor on European and Russian affairs, who overheard the phone call between Trump and Zelensky, testified on October 31 after announcing his resignation the day before. Regarding the phone call, he said the memorandum accurately reflected his memories of the conversation and that, in his opinion, nothing illegal had been discussed, but he reported concerns to White House lawyers that details of the conversation might become public. At the same time, he confirmed that the release of military aid was made dependent on an investigation against Burisma. Fiona Hill told him about Sondland and Giuliani's efforts to persuade Ukraine to undertake such an investigation. However, he was not aware that the reluctance of military aid was related to this until he spoke to Sondland on September 1. In addition, he essentially confirmed statements by Bill Taylor, who had mentioned Morrison several times, with minor corrections: According to her statements, Sondland is said to have met an advisor to Zelenskyj in Warsaw at the beginning of September and told him that military aid would only be provided if Zelenskyj undertook to determine against the Bidens. According to Morrison, it would have been enough for Sondland if Zelenskyi's Advocate General opened the investigation himself instead of the President. Morrison backed up Taylor's report on a phone call between Trump and Sondland by saying the president did not want a quid pro quo but urged Zelenskyi to publicly announce an investigation against the Bidens. Both Republicans and Democrats saw Morrison's statements as an asset to their side. Republican MP Mark Meadows said she pointed out huge holes in impeachment efforts, which Wasserman-Schultz claims he filled in.

On November 6th, David Hale , State Secretary for Political Affairs , testified about the removal of Marie Yovanovitch and defended the former ambassador. He found the accusations that she had made derogatory remarks about Trump to be inaccurate and had brought the idea of ​​a statement in support of Yovanovitch to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; but such was never published. They were afraid it would only fuel the negative reactions, so the plan was to hold it back and sit out.

Jennifer Williams, an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence who overheard Trump's phone call with Zelensky, testified on Nov. 7 that she found the conversation unusual because it was political and not in the usual tone of a diplomatic call. The phone call made specific references to Trump's personal political agenda; she called his insistence that Ukraine conduct a politically sensitive investigation inappropriately. After posting a transcript of her testimony, Trump accused Williams of attacking the president on Twitter.

On November 15, diplomat David Holmes testified and confirmed Sondland's phone call to Trump, which Billy Taylor mentioned in his public hearing, which is said to have taken place on July 26, one day after Trump's phone call with Zelenskyi. He overheard it in a restaurant in Kiev and recognized Trump's very loud voice on the phone. When Trump asked whether Zelenskyi would initiate the investigation against the Biden, Sondland reportedly replied that Zelensky would do anything Trump asked of him. According to Holmes' opening statement, a meeting between an American delegation, including himself and Sondland, and Ukrainian government officials, including Zelenskyi, took place that day. He mentioned that Trump had addressed three sensitive topics in his phone call. After the meeting, Holmes and Sondland went to the restaurant where Sondland called Trump to give him an update. After the phone call, in response to Holmes' question about Trump's views on Ukraine, Sondland said the president was only interested in big things that benefit him, like the investigation into the Bidens.

Mark Sandy , the former director of the Office of Management and Budget before Mick Mulvaney , reported on November 16 how the process of disbursing military aid usually works and how this differs in the case of military aid to Ukraine.

Resolution of October 29 on further steps in the investigation - PDF, 10 pages

Vote on further procedure

While a formal vote is not required for an impeachment investigation under the Constitution, Trump and various Republicans have repeatedly criticized the fact that there was no vote, claiming that without one the investigation would be invalid.

On October 24, 45 Senate Republicans, led by Lindsey Graham , chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, tabled a resolution condemning the impeachment investigation and calling for a formal vote on the investigation. Trump should confront his accusers and the Republicans should be allowed to issue their own subpoenas. Otherwise an impeachment due to the investigation would be invalid. Graham had previously planned to send a letter to Pelosi that the Republican senators would not vote for impeachment over the phone call with Zelenskyi; he rejected this idea in favor of the resolution.

Finally, spokeswoman Pelosi announced at the end of October that the Democrats would introduce a resolution that should secure both the steps taken so far and the further procedure via public hearings and should dispel any doubts as to whether Trump's government was allowed to refuse to cooperate. In the vote on the resolution, held on October 31 with the entire House of Representatives, 232 MPs (Democrats only) voted yes and 196 (all Republicans and 2 Democrats) voted no. The White House released a statement through press secretary Stephanie Grisham that sharply disparaged the vote as a hoax and "an obviously partisan attempt to destroy the president." Trump himself tweeted that the investigation was "the greatest witch hunt in American history".

Public hearings

On November 6, it was announced that the first public hearings would begin the following week. These are broadcast live on several US television channels and in online live streams on Facebook and YouTube , for example . As stated in the October 31st Declaration, Republican MPs may also summon witnesses at this stage; Their proposals can be rejected by the head of the investigation, Adam Schiff. He did so on a list of 8 witnesses who wanted to question the Republicans, with Hunter Biden and the whistleblower, submitted by the opposition leader on the Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes . His statement is no longer necessary, and the person must be protected.

In mid-November, before the start of public hearings, used Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi for the investigated allegations the term bribery ( "bribery") instead of quid pro quo. This is specifically named in the United States Constitution as one of the offenses that can lead to impeachment proceedings.

Marie L. Yovanovitch on January 29, 2015

The first public hearing of Bill Taylor and George Kent took place on November 13th. Taylor added to her previous statements information about a phone call between Trump and Sondland that took place on July 26th - one day after the phone call between Trump and Zelenskyi. Trump is said to have asked about the investigation during the phone call. According to the Nielsen Ratings , over 13 million people tuned into this public hearing. Trump said he was too busy looking at her but posted tweets during the hearing commenting on her.

On November 15, Marie Yovanovitch was heard publicly and said about Trump mentioning her on the phone with Zelenskyi that reading this in the published memorandum made her feel threatened. During her hearing, Trump attacked Yovanovitch on Twitter, whereupon Adam Schiff allowed her to respond immediately by reading the relevant tweet. When asked what effect this would have on the willingness of other witnesses to testify, she replied that it was very intimidating, which is why this attack is being discussed as a witness intimidation and a potential component of impeachment. Trump defended himself with reference to free speech. Yovanovitch received a standing ovation following her hearing, during which her diplomatic services were extolled by Republicans and Democrats .

On November 19, the morning hearing of Alexander Vindman and Jennifer Williams, who were called by the Democrats as witnesses and both overheard the telephone conversation between Trump and Zelenskyj, took place in the morning, and in the afternoon of Kurt Volker and Tim Morrison, who were from the Republicans were convened.

In his opening statement, Vindman addressed his father, who immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union 40 years ago. Republican MP Steve Castor attacked Vindman for questioning his loyalty over a triple vacancy as Ukrainian Defense Minister by Oleksandr Danylyuk , Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine during Zelenskyi's inauguration. Vindman called these offers ridiculous and said he turned them down and reported them to his manager. Danylyuk then told ABC News that the offer was a joke. Vindman spoke to two people, including one from the intelligence community, about Trump's phone call; Republican Devin Nunes tried to get him to reveal that person's name, so Adam Schiff had to step in to possibly protect the whistleblower's identity, even if Vindman said he didn't know him.

Kurt Volker revised his statements at the private hearing, at which he said he had seen no evidence that the President had made a meeting with Zelenskyj in the White House or made military aid dependent on an investigation. Now he testified that he had a new point of view because he had learned many things that he did not know at the time of the events in question. Tim Morrison was asked about a conversation between Gordon Sondland and Andrij Jermak , assistant to the Ukrainian President, that took place on September 1; his response that Sondland had told Yermak that the Ukrainian attorney general would have to issue a statement regarding the investigation as a condition for the military aid to be released is interpreted as an affirmation of the quid pro quo, even if Morrison did not use that term for it.

On November 20, the hearing was held in the morning for Gordon Sondland and in the afternoon for Laura Cooper and David Hale. Sondland was the most eagerly awaited witness because he himself was directly involved in the efforts to get Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. While Trump is distancing himself from Sondland, he has often spoken of several phone calls with the president and of his proximity to him.

In his testimony, he linked Trump directly to his actions and efforts to get Ukraine to investigate by working with Giuliani, Kurt Volker and Energy Secretary Rick Perry - who were called the "three amigos" - at Trump's express instructions and by confirming the July 26 telephone conversation between Sondland and Trump, made famous by Bill Taylor and David Holmes, which shows his direct contact with the President. In addition to Trump, he brought other names into play: He had informed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Security Advisor John Bolton about each of their steps regarding Ukraine. "Everyone was privy to it, it wasn't a secret," he said. (Quote: “ Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret. ”) Therefore, there was no shadow politics here either. On September 1, prior to a meeting between Pence and Zelenskyi, he said of Vice President Mike Pence that he had expressed concerns about the reluctance of military aid to be linked to the investigation. Sondland explicitly confirmed a quid pro quo in relation to a White House meeting with Trump, which Zelenskyj wanted, for Zelenskyj publicly announcing investigations against Burisma Holdings. Regarding the question of whether the release of the military aid was also made contingent on this public announcement, Sondland said that because he had never received a clear explanation as to why they were withheld, he was personally assuming that they would not be paid out before not the investigation would be announced. Trump himself never told him they were dependent on it.

Sondland also reported on a telephone conversation between him and Trump in which, in order to get a clear answer, he had asked the President directly what he wanted from Ukraine; Trump's answer was: “I don't want anything. I don't want a quid pro quo. Tell Zelenskyi to do the right thing. ”The phone call came on September 9th when Michael Atkinson notified the Intelligence Committee of the whistleblower complaint a week after Joseph Maguire informed the White House Legal Adviser , leading to the belief that that Trump had already learned of the complaint. When asked by MP Raja Krishnamoorthi , Sondland said he could not rule out that Trump's statements on the day were due to the complaint. Trump took the mention of this telephone conversation as an opportunity to consider the investigation to be over and to quote himself. In front of the White House he repeated the words to reporters and was seen with notes on which he wrote down the contents of this telephone conversation with black markers. The Ukrainian president's name was misspelled as Zellinsky (English spelling: Zelensky), and Trump's writing provoked ridicule on social media. Pete Souza , photographer for Trump's predecessor Barack Obama , posted a photo of a handwritten note of Obama for comparison.

Laura Cooper reported that on July 25, her team received emails from the Ukrainian embassy indicating that Ukrainian officials were already aware of problems with military aid, what the Republican defense of Trump had with military aid there could be no quid pro quo if Ukraine did not even know that these were being withheld, undermining.

On November 21, Fiona Hill and David Holmes testified together. In her opening statement, Hill condemned the “fictional narrative” that it was not Russia but Ukraine that interfered in the 2016 presidential election. She said it was evident that an investigation against Burisma requested by Trump meant one against the Bidens, and it was not credible that Sondland had not seen the connection; the latter had claimed that he did not understand that an investigation against Burisma had to do with the Bidens until the memorandum of the telephone conversation in which Trump named Biden was issued in September. A conflict between Hill and Sondland was also raised: she was frustrated and annoyed that this other official did not keep up with all his meetings and was involved in a domestic policy assignment while she and other diplomats pursued traditional foreign policy. Sondland's reactions also led them to make a general statement that women who show their anger are not taken seriously.

Transition to the next phase

After two weeks of public hearings, on November 25, Schiff wrote a letter to his colleagues in the House of Representatives, summarizing that it was revealed that Trump had sought foreign interference in the presidential election for his political and personal gain by holding a meeting at the White House with Selensky and the military aid to Ukraine were made dependent on the announcement of politically motivated investigations. The evidence would show his corrupt intent and the extent of the abuse of power. After a break in Congress over Thanksgiving , the governing committees would send a report of the evidence found so far, which would include all cases of non-cooperation, to the House Judiciary Committee , which would then move on to the next phase of the investigation.

The following day, Jerrold Nadler , chairman of the Justice Committee, announced through a letter to Trump that the Justice Committee had scheduled its first hearing to discuss the constitutional basis for an indictment on December 4th. With the letter, Nadler invites Trump to attend the meeting. Nadler said that Trump now has the choice of either taking the opportunity to be represented at the hearings or stopping complaining about the process.

White House legal advisor Pat Cipollone wrote to Nadler on Dec. 1 that neither Trump nor lawyers will attend this first hearing on his behalf. Instead, Trump is attending a NATO summit in London that day. Cipollone accuses Nadler of having the first hearing "no doubt on purpose" on the same day as the summit.

Republican Final Report, December 2, 123 pages
Final report of the Secret Service Committee, December 3, 300 pages

On December 2, Republicans on the committees involved in the investigation presented their 100-page final report on the hearings. In it, they argue that the evidence in the testimony does not support the allegations against President Trump and that there are no grounds for impeachment. Instead, the Democrats are obsessed with wanting to undo the results of the 2016 presidential election. For the Republicans, on the one hand, the withholding of military aid due to Trump's skepticism about corruption in Ukraine, and on the other, Trump's concerns about Hunter Biden are justified. They also reiterate the claim that Ukrainian officials tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Adam Schiff immediately dismissed the report and wrote on Twitter that Republicans were ignoring much of the evidence.

The secret service committee's final report was made public the following day. This is divided into two sections: one on allegations of intrigue ( scheme ) and one on obstruction . Call data included in the report shows new revelations in April contacts between Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas, Devin Nunes and right-wing journalist John Solomon, who previously published defamations against Ukraine and Marie Yovanovitch. Adam Schiff said it was worrying that a congressman might be involved in Trump's activities to smear a political rival.

Judicial Committee hearings

At the first Justice Committee hearing on December 4th, law professors Pamela Karlan ( Stanford University ), Noah Feldman ( Harvard University ) and Michael Gerhardt ( University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ), who were invited by the Democrats, and Jonathan Turley ( George Washington University Law School), summoned by Republicans, to provide an assessment of whether Trump's actions constitute offenses that may lead to charges. While the three professors invited by the Democrats reiterated this view, Jonathan Turley set out his opinion that Trump should not be charged. Feldman concludes that the president has committed high crimes and misdemeanors through abuse of office - a phrase that the constitution lists as grounds for impeachment. Gerhardt ruled that Trump's wrongdoing was worse than that of any previous president, and that its gravity is clear compared to Nixon's wrongdoing, who stepped down to avoid impeachment.

For Karlan, Trump's demand for foreign interference in the presidential election represents abuse of office; such is not common policy, but a major reason why the constitution contains a possibility of impeachment. To clarify the difference between a president and a king, she said: “The constitution cannot give titles of nobility. While the president can call his son Barron, he cannot make him a baron. ”She was heavily criticized by the Republican for naming Trump's son. Melania Trump , Barron's mother, wrote that Karlan should be ashamed of it; an underage child deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics. At the end of the hearing, she apologized for her statement.

Jonathan Turley believes the Ukraine affair warrants an investigation, but the Democrats' impeachment process is sloppy and premature. The evidence needed to be stronger and witnesses like Mulvaney and Bolton heard. He described Trump's efforts to initiate an investigation into alleged Ukraine interference in the 2016 presidential election as ignorant but not corrupt; the efforts to investigate Joe Biden deemed highly inappropriate, but no evidence of bribery.

On December 7th, the Justice Committee Democrats released a report entitled Constitutional grounds for presidential impeachment , which further explains the constitutional indictable offenses, as well as their history, purpose and purpose Importance of impeachment to be executed. They also address six impeachment errors that have recently been circulating in public. In the introduction it is stated that the indictment is the constitution's final answer to a president who falsely considers himself a monarch. Mentioned in the Constitution besides treason and bribery "other high crimes and misdemeanors" ( " other high crimes and misdemeanors ") as the following three: abuse of power, betrayal of the nation by foreign entanglements and corruption of the Office and the election. Nadler said in a statement: "President Trump has abused his power, betrayed national security, corrupted our elections, and all for his own personal gain." He described the document as the heir to the 1974 impeachment report against the same title Richard Nixon , updated but not entirely rewritten on the 1998 impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton .

At the second session on December 9, lawyers from both parties were questioned about the evidence and findings of the Intelligence Committee investigation. Witnesses were Danny Goldman for the Democrats, Steve Castor for the Republicans and Barry Berke for the Democrats on the Justice Committee for the Intelligence Committee. Before Nadler's opening statement began, the session was interrupted by a protester: Owen Shroyers, host of a right-wing conspiracy theories program at InfoWars , shouted that Nadler and the Democrats would commit treason and thus a crime while Trump was innocent. While Berke argued that Trump committed not just one of the accusable offenses, but all three, and Goldman warned that Trump's actions were a threat and danger to national security and the elections, Castor presented the process as politically motivated: you want Only remove Trump because you don't like his politics. He also continues to question who - whether Russia or Ukraine - interfered in the 2016 presidential election; he argued that either of them could have. When Berke, who testified with Castor in the morning, was able to ask Castor questions himself in the afternoon, this was objected to by the Republicans. They also strongly criticized the fact that Adam Schiff was not present as a witness to answer questions about his committee's report and the investigation he led.

Indictment

Beginning in December 2019 commissioned Pelosi the Justice Committee of the Congress officially with the drafting of the indictment ( articles of impeachment ).

On December 10th, the Democrats announced the two charges they are planning to raise: first, abuse of power, and second, preventing Congress from investigating. Steve Cohen , chairman of the Constitution subcommittee on the Judiciary Committee, named them the two highest crimes anyone can commit. At the introduction, Nadler stated: “It is an indictable offense for a president to use the power of his office to seek personal gain,” and on the second point: “And when he was caught investigating the house and one Inaugurating the investigation, President Trump operated an unprecedented, categorical and arbitrary disregard for the investigation. "

H. Res. 755 - Counts against President Trump, December 10, 10 pages
Judicial Committee report on the indictment, December 16, 658 pages

Beginning on the evening of December 11th (Wednesday), the Judiciary Committee held a two-day debate on the indictment, during which each member could propose an amendment, which was then voted on. Proposals by Republican members to delete an article or passages of the articles were rejected. After the debate had lasted 14 hours on December 12th (Thursday), Chairman Nadler postponed the final vote on the final text of the charges until Friday morning so that the public could watch the vote. At this, all 23 Democrats present (one was missing after an operation) voted for and all 17 Republicans against the charges, which means that the committee has approved both articles, which will then go to the entire House of Representatives next.

The Judiciary Committee published a report on Trump's indictment on December 16 to accompany the resolution of the indictments to the House of Representatives. In it, both charges are explained and the previous procedure is retraced in order to show that this has so far been fair and also just for the President, as well as which evidence and findings found in the hearings support the charges. The document also re-annexes the final report of the Intelligence Committee and a report by Doug Collins , the Opposition Leader (Ranking Member) of the Judiciary Committee, entitled Dissenting Views , citing Republican dissent on the allegations. In doing so, they accuse the Democrats of unfair trials and claim that the allegations and circumstantial evidence are insufficient for indictable offenses.

poll

According to the procedure, when a draft law was first discussed in a committee of experts before the House of Representatives, a meeting of the rules committee took place on December 17th before the debate in the house , which determines the rules and speaking time for a debate. This decided in favor of the "closed rule" mode, which means that no amendments are allowed; and six hours for the debate, which will be equally divided between the parties, and for the individual counts to be voted on.

The following day, December 18, the six-hour debate and subsequent vote on the charges took place, with the House of Representatives passing both articles by a Democratic majority, officially indicting President Donald Trump. During the debate, the MPs announced whether they would vote for or against the indictment and made statements, mainly repeating the well-known arguments of both sides. Statements received more strongly in the media were comparisons of Republicans with other events: For example, the MP Barry Loudermilk said that Pontius Pilate had granted Jesus more rights because he was allowed to confront his accusers; Nadler pointed out that Trump was invited to appear for hearings but declined. Mike Kelly said of the attack on Pearl Harbor , condemned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the Day of Infamy , that the day of the indictment would also be.

The first count of abuse of power received 230 votes to 197; the second, obstruction of Congress, received 229 votes to 198. While the Republicans were unanimous against it, first two, then three Democrats, differing from the majority opinion of their party, voted no and Tulsi Gabbard , a candidate for the 2020 presidential primaries , each with abstention.

Senate proceedings

Following the indictment by the House of Representatives, the Senate will conduct the hearing, with all members serving as a jury . To do this, they are sworn in and have to swear their impartiality according to the guidelines of the Senate. Advance statements by leading Republicans that they will not and will not be impartial have led to disputes between the parties and uncertainty about when the Senate trial will begin.

Mitch McConnell , Senate Majority Leader , met on 12 December with Pat Cipollone, legal counsel of the White House, and was following an interview with Fox News . He said, “I will do everything during [the trial] in coordination with the White House legal counsel. There will be no difference between the position of the president and our position in how we handle it. ”The Democrat Val Demings then called on him to withdraw from the process because of bias. Days later, Lindsey Graham , chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee , said he had made up his mind and was not going to pretend he was impartial. McConnell also reiterated that he would not be an impartial jury.

On December 15, Senate minority leader Charles Schumer sent a letter to McConnell calling for John Bolton , Mick Mulvaney , Robert Blair and Michael Duffey, who failed to appear for hearings during the investigation, to be called as witnesses should. He also suggested a timing for the trial to begin on January 6th. McConnell declined to seek or hear from these witnesses because investigating and finding evidence was the House of Representatives' job and that of the Senate was only to judge. Schumer condemned this in his reply that a trial without witnesses would not be.

Delay in delivery

Due to concerns about an unfair trial, Pelosi has postponed a decision on when to turn the case to the Senate. After the start of the winter break, no date has yet been set for the start of the Senate proceedings. Constitutional lawyer Noah Feldman, who argued in favor of the indictment at the House Judiciary Committee hearing, argues that Trump has not yet been indicted. The house has so far voted to indict Trump, but the official execution of the indictment includes handing it over to the Senate. The indictment is a process, not just a vote.

After the end of the winter break, Lindsey Graham announced that if Pelosi continued to refuse to hand over the articles, he would work with McConnell to change the Senate's rules so that the Senate could begin the process without Pelosi's action. On January 6, Republican Senator Josh Hawley put forward a resolution that would give Pelosi 25 days to deliver the articles. After the expiry of the period, the Senate should be allowed to reject the articles with a motion with a simple majority (51 votes). According to Hawley, McConnell co-signed the resolution on January 9th.

Handover of the articles to the Senate

On January 10, Pelosi wrote to her colleagues that she had asked Nadler to issue a resolution to send the articles to the Senate and to appoint the so-called managers of the House who will present the case to the Senate. The House Democratic Caucus met on January 14th at which it announced that the House of Representatives would vote on a resolution the following day. On January 15, Pelosi announced the seven managers of the house in a press conference: in addition to Adam Schiff as executive manager and Jerry Nadler Hakeem Jeffries , Jason Crow , Zoe Lofgren , Val Demings and Sylvia Garcia . In the following vote, the resolution was passed 228 to 193 votes, thereby approving the appointed managers and deciding to hand the articles of indictment to the Senate. After Pelosi signed the charter resolution, the seven managers walked through the Capitol from the House of Representatives to the Senate, where they turned in the indictment items. Cheryl L. Johnson, in the position of House Clerk , announced them to the Senate and formally notified them of the passing of the resolution appointing the managers.

Developments outside the process

The Government Accountability Office published a report on January 16 ruling that the Office of Management and Budget had violated the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act for political reasons by withholding military aid that had already been granted .

Lev Parnas

The lawyer of Lev Parnas arrested in October 2019 , a confidante of Rudy Giuliani, who is said to have helped him broker meetings with government officials in Ukraine, said in November that his client was ready to cooperate with the investigation into Trump and to provide relevant information divide. On New Year's Eve, Bondy asked a federal judge for permission to share information from Parnas that was confiscated upon arrest, including documents and content from his iPhone , with the impeachment investigators. On January 13, 2020, he handed over thousands of pages of Parnas documents and various electronic mobile devices. The material was made public the following day. Some of the text messages show conversations between Parnas and businessman Robert F. Hyde that that this Yovanovitch, he called a "bitch" (hint Bitch ) was watching because he knew their whereabouts and safety status and announced.

Interviewed by Rachel Maddow on her show on Jan. 15, Parnas said Trump was aware of all of his moves, that he had done nothing without Trump or Giuliani's approval. Vice-President Pence and Attorney General Barr were also informed by Giuliani about events in Ukraine. His efforts were never about corruption, but always only to Burisma and the Bidens. When asked about Hyde, Parnas said he did not think Yovanovitch had been watched. On January 17, the Judicial Committee released additional material, including a transcript of the interview and photos showing Parnas with Giuliani and Trump, who again denied knowing him after the revelations.

On January 26, a video obtained by ABC News was released that was secretly taped in April 2018 by Parnas' business partner Igor Fruman, who was arrested with him, at a fundraising dinner with Trump. After Parnas replies that you have to get rid of Marie Yovanovitch, Trump's voice can be heard: "Get rid of her," he says. “Get her out tomorrow. I do not care. Get her out tomorrow. Get them out. OK? It does."

On January 31, prior to voting on a possible witness hearing, Bondy sent a letter to McConnell (with a copy to Chuck Schumer) urging him to support a vote in favor of the witness hearing. He describes what Parnas' testimony would include based on personal knowledge and physical evidence such as text messages and documents. It would be about his relationship with Trump and Giuliani and his actions in Ukraine on behalf of Trump and under the direction of Giuliani to remove Marie Yovanovitch and collect "dirt" against Joe and Hunter Biden. As people involved in the plan, he lists Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General Bill Barr, Senator Lindsey Graham, Rep . Devin Nunes , his advisor Derek Harvey , journalist John Solomon , attorneys Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing , and that Great PAC America First . Meetings between Parnas and Ukrainian government representatives, conversations between him, Giuliani, Trump or American government representatives are presented.

John Bolton

On January 26, 2020, the New York Times reported that a planned book by former US National Security Advisor John Bolton appears to incriminate Trump in the Ukraine affair. According to an unpublished manuscript that Bolton sent the White House Records Management Directorate for a periodic review on Dec. 30, 2019, Trump reportedly told him in August that he wanted to continue to want $ 391 million in Ukraine bailouts freeze until the local government helped investigate Democrats, including the Bidens. The Frankfurter Rundschau reported that this would "confirm the central charge against Trump in the Ukraine affair - and contradict the defense strategy of the president."

Trump contradicted the report on Twitter, where he wrote on Jan. 26: “I NEVER told John Bolton that aid to Ukraine was linked to investigations against Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, at the time of his very public dismissal (in the original “termination”), he never complained about it. If John Bolton said that, it was only to sell a book. ... "

Several Republican senators then called for witnesses to be called. "It is becoming increasingly clear that it is important to hear from John Bolton," said Mitt Romney . Even Susan Collins said the new revelations about Bolton would "strengthen" the call for witnesses. Lisa Murkowski and Lamar Alexander expressed themselves according to the time "interested", but "vaguely."

The United States National Security Council wrote to Bolton's attorney Charles Cooper that the manuscript contained some information that was classified as "top secret" and would endanger national security, and should therefore not be published. Cooper replied that Bolton was preparing to be called as a witness and that he would be sure to be questioned about information from the chapter of the manuscript dealing with his role in Ukraine.

On January 31, based on the unpublished manuscript that Trump, during a conversation in the Oval Office in early May 2019 with Mick Mulvaney, Giuliani and Pat Cipollone, is said to have ordered John Bolton to call Zelenskyj to arrange a meeting with Giuliani. Bolton did not make this call. Trump and Giuliani responded to the report by saying that the conversation never took place.

Chuck Grassley swears in Chief Justice John Roberts as presiding judge of the Senate trial.

Opening ceremony

On January 16, the Senate proceedings were formally started with the opening ceremonies. The seven managers of the house went to the Senate again and Adam Schiff, as the leading manager, read the two counts there. Then Chief Justice John Roberts was sworn in as presiding judge by Chuck Grassley , President pro tempore of the Senate , and Roberts, in turn, made the Senators swear by their impartiality. Finally, the senators signed the oath in groups. During the break on Martin Luther King Day , the Senate Chamber was equipped with special furniture: two desks made to measure during the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton as workstations for the managers and shelves on which the Senators can leave unauthorized electrical devices during the proceedings.

On Jan. 17, Trump announced his legal counsel for the Senate trial, which will be led by White House Legal Advisor Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulov . Then there are the famous lawyers Kenneth Starr , whose investigations led to the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton, and Alan M. Dershowitz , who argued against the Trump charges in a book in 2018, as well as Pam Bondi, Jane Raskin, Eric Herschmann and Robert Ray. On January 20, Trump's defense was added eight Republican MPs to the House of Representatives: Debbie Lesko , Elise Stefanik , Jim Jordan , Doug Collins , Mark Meadows , John Ratcliffe , Lee Zeldin and Mike Johnson .

Preparatory documents from both sides

Trial Memorandum of the Managers of the House of Representatives, 111 pages
Trial Memorandum Trumps by his lawyers, 171 pages (with appendix)

Cipollone and Sekulow published a six-page letter on Jan. 18 in Trump's formal response to the charges, arguing that both charges should be dismissed in the trial. They call the charge an attack on citizens' right to vote for their president and an unlawful attempt to reverse the result of the 2016 presidential election. Through the managers of the house, the Democrats presented an outline of their arguments in a 111-page document listing the facts obtained through the investigation. They argue in favor of condemning Trump on both counts and for removing him from office. Trump's lawyers, in turn, sent their arguments to the Senate on January 20 in a 170-page document, the appendix of which includes the memorandum of the phone call of July 25, 2019. They urge the Senate to swiftly dismiss the charges, arguing that abuse of power is not a constitutionally indictable offense, so the first article of the indictment does not identify a crime as an allegation. This argument, which his lawyers spread on television appearances, was heavily criticized by Adam Schiff. The House's managers wrote a 9-page letter in response to Trump's response, stressing that the Senate should have a fair trial with witnesses and all evidence, and later a 34-page memorandum of reply to that of Trump's lawyers.

Resolution on the course of the procedure

At the January 21 session, the Senate debated a resolution tabled by Mitch McConnell the day before to determine the rules and flow of the Senate process. Originally, this resolution stipulated that both sides, the house managers and Trump's lawyers, would each have a total of 24 hours to present their arguments, divided over two days. Since the sessions of the Senate for the trial were supposed to start after noon, that would have meant that they could have lasted into the night, so it would prevent the public from watching everything live. This has been criticized by both Democrats and Republican senators. McConnell therefore handwritten the text shortly before the reading so that the 24 hours should be divided over three days, whereby the sessions end in the evening. Chuck Schumer tabled eleven amendments to subpoena members of the White House and government, the first of which was rejected by Republicans and the others deferred. McConnell's resolution postponed votes to summon witnesses until both sides have delivered their opening arguments. After an exchange between Jerrold Nadler and Pat Cipollone, Chief Justice Roberts reprimanded both sides for their language of expression and said they should remember where they are. The debate lasted thirteen hours into the following day when McConnell's resolution was finally passed along the party lines (53 Republican votes to 47 minority votes from 45 Democrats and 2 independent Senators).

Opening arguments

From January 22nd to 24th the managers of the house presented their opening arguments. On the first day, in over seven hours, they laid out the facts and evidence gathered through the investigation; going through it month after month and witness by witness, they presented a chronology of the case. To do this, they also used screen shots of documents such as transcripts of the hearings, emails and text messages, as well as around 50 video clips with testimony from witnesses from public hearings and from Trump himself in interviews and press conferences. On the second day, they argued that the acts depicted and investigated constituted Trump's abuse of power and that in turn was an indictable offense. Jerrold Nadler stated that it did not have to be a criminal offense and showed a video clip from the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton in 1999 in which Lindsey Graham said that impeachment does not require a crime. While they spent the majority of their 24 hours on the first abuse of power charge, they devoted the third day to the Congressional obstruction charge, detailing Trump's categorical refusal to cooperate with the investigation. They ended with a plea for a fair trial.

Trump's legal team presented his opening arguments in defense of the defendant on Saturday, January 25th, and January 27th and 28th. In total, they spent about eleven of the 24 hours available. On Saturday they spent two hours, one less than previously expected, so as not to take up too much time from the Senators' weekend. Cipollone argued that in addition to reversing the 2016 presidential election, the Democrats would want to influence the 2020 election. The team also attacked the credibility of the Democratic side, who, when presenting the evidence, left out relevant statements that would exonerate Trump. On Monday, they mainly focused on Burisma Holdings and the Bidens to show that Trump's calls for a corruption investigation were justified. Pam Bondi and Eric Harshman argued that Hunter Biden got his position at Burisma Holdings because his father was the vice president. On Tuesday they only used about two hours of their time. They re-accused the Democrats of wanting to reverse the 2016 presidential election, calling it harmful and dangerous for the country and the government. The charges would have to be rejected and the proceedings ended as quickly as possible.

question round

On January 29th and 30th there was a 16-hour Q&A session in which the senators (individually or in groups) could ask questions to both sides, the managers of the house and Trump's legal team. Because the senators are not allowed to speak during the trial, they wrote their questions on cards, which Chief Justice John Roberts then read out and was finally answered by someone on the elected side, each of which was allowed five minutes. Topics were particularly about Trump's motivation and the question of whether other witnesses such as John Bolton should be heard. Mostly, Democratic senators put their questions to the managers of the House and Republican senators to Trump's defense. Lisa Desjardins from PBS NewsHour therefore evaluates the vast majority of almost 180 questions as friendly (so that the relevant side can expand their argument) and only under 20 questions as challenging (to expose a weakness in the argument of the other side) and still less than frank (to actually get an answer to a question).

The first question was asked by Susan Collins with Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney , who were considered the three Republican senators most likely to vote in favor of hearing witnesses. They asked how the Senate should treat the first count if Trump had multiple motivations for his actions, such as personal political advantage and at the same time fighting corruption for the national interest. Philbin replied that the House's lawsuit would then fall apart, Adam Schiff, in turn, that it was enough if a corrupt motive was involved to convict Trump. He also referred to Bolton, who as a witness could clarify the question of Trump's motive.

Alan Dershowitz sparked controversy when he responded to a question from Ted Cruz about whether quid pro quo arrangements are often used in foreign policy. Dershowitz replied, “If a president does something that he believes will help get elected in the public interest, it cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that leads to indictment. Every public official I know believes their election is in the public interest. ”This argument has been criticized by Democrats and legal scholars: Schiff said this gives a blank check for further foreign interference in the future. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley , said it would mean the president could break any law and abuse any power and then say it is for the public good. NBC News’s Neal Katyal said that argument would allow the president to do literally anything, comparing it to Nixon: “I'm sure Nixon also thought the break-in was okay because it’s helping his re-election, which he believes was in the national interest. ”Dershowitz responded with allegations that the media had twisted his words and that legal scholars would be biased and would agree with him in a democratic president.

On the second day, Roberts declined to read a question from Rand Paul that appeared to contain the name of the whistleblower of the complaint against Trump. Paul later told the press that Roberts' decision was wrong and then read out his question.

Vote on witnesses

On the night of January 31 to February 1, 2020, the US Senate voted on the Democratic motion to summon additional witnesses. The motion was rejected by 51 votes to 49. Only two of the 53 Republican senators, Mitt Romney and Susan Collins , voted for the motion.

Closing speeches

On February 3, 2020, the prosecution and defense made their closing statements. The Democrats called for Trump to be convicted. Prosecutor Adam Schiff stated, "Donald Trump has betrayed his oath to protect and defend the Constitution." The evidence of his guilt on the abuse of office and obstruction of Congress is "overwhelming", the Senators must remove Trump from office. He warned that Trump cannot be changed and that he cannot be sure that he will not try to cheat in the upcoming presidential election and tried to win at least a single Republican vote for impeachment. Trump's chief attorney Pat Cipollone called for an acquittal. The process is an attempt to reverse Trump's 2016 election victory and prevent his re-election. A decision about it is a matter for the voters.

Voting and acquittal

The vote on Trump's impeachment took place on Wednesday, February 5, 2020. The Senate voted separately on the charges of abuse of office and obstruction of Congress. According to the US Constitution, a two-thirds majority (67 votes) on at least one count would have been necessary in order to convict the President of a conviction and impeachment . The Republican majority cleared him on both counts with 52-48 votes on abuse of power and 53-47 on congressional obstruction. Mitt Romney was the only Republican to vote on the abuse of office with the Democrats to convict Trump. "To manipulate an election in order to defend one's office is probably the most blatant violation of the oath of office that I can imagine," he said of his decision.

Votes counted on articles of impeachment indictment
Senator Political party State voice
Article I
Abuse of Power
Article II
Congressional obstruction
Doug Jones democrat USA AlabamaAlabama Alabama Yes Yes
Richard Shelby republican USA AlabamaAlabama Alabama No No
Dan Sullivan republican USA AlaskaAlaska Alaska No No
Lisa Murkowski republican USA AlaskaAlaska Alaska No No
Kyrsten Sinema democrat USA ArizonaArizona Arizona Yes Yes
Martha McSally republican USA ArizonaArizona Arizona No No
Tom Cotton republican USA ArkansasArkansas Arkansas No No
John Boozman republican USA ArkansasArkansas Arkansas No No
Dianne Feinstein democrat USA CaliforniaCalifornia California Yes Yes
Kamala Harris democrat USA CaliforniaCalifornia California Yes Yes
Cory Gardner republican USA ColoradoColorado Colorado No No
Michael Bennet democrat USA ColoradoColorado Colorado Yes Yes
Chris Murphy democrat USA ConnecticutConnecticut Connecticut Yes Yes
Richard Blumenthal democrat USA ConnecticutConnecticut Connecticut Yes Yes
Tom Carper democrat USA-DelawareDelaware Delaware Yes Yes
Chris Coons democrat USA-DelawareDelaware Delaware Yes Yes
Rick Scott republican USA FloridaFlorida Florida No No
Marco Rubio republican USA FloridaFlorida Florida No No
David Perdue republican USA GeorgiaGeorgia Georgia No No
Kelly Loeffler republican USA GeorgiaGeorgia Georgia No No
Mazie Hirono democrat USA-HawaiiHawaii Hawaii Yes Yes
Brian darling democrat USA-HawaiiHawaii Hawaii Yes Yes
Jim Risch republican USA IdahoIdaho Idaho No No
Mike Crapo republican USA IdahoIdaho Idaho No No
Dick Durbin democrat USA IllinoisIllinois Illinois Yes Yes
Tammy Duckworth democrat USA IllinoisIllinois Illinois Yes Yes
Mike Braun republican USA IndianaIndiana Indiana No No
Todd Young republican USA IndianaIndiana Indiana No No
Joni Ernst republican USA IowaIowa Iowa No No
Chuck Grassley republican USA IowaIowa Iowa No No
Pat Roberts republican USA KansasKansas Kansas No No
Jerry Moran republican USA KansasKansas Kansas No No
Mitch McConnell republican USA KentuckyKentucky Kentucky No No
Rand Paul republican USA KentuckyKentucky Kentucky No No
Bill Cassidy republican USA LouisianaLouisiana Louisiana No No
John Kennedy republican USA LouisianaLouisiana Louisiana No No
Angus King Independently USA MaineMaine Maine Yes Yes
Susan Collins republican USA MaineMaine Maine No No
Ben Cardin democrat USA MarylandMaryland Maryland Yes Yes
Chris Van Hollen democrat USA MarylandMaryland Maryland Yes Yes
Elizabeth Warren democrat USA-MassachusettsMassachusetts Massachusetts Yes Yes
Ed Markey democrat USA-MassachusettsMassachusetts Massachusetts Yes Yes
Debbie Stabenow democrat USA MichiganMichigan Michigan Yes Yes
Gary Peters democrat USA MichiganMichigan Michigan Yes Yes
Amy Klobuchar democrat USA MinnesotaMinnesota Minnesota Yes Yes
Tina Smith democrat USA MinnesotaMinnesota Minnesota Yes Yes
Roger Wicker republican USA MississippiMississippi Mississippi No No
Cindy Hyde-Smith republican USA MississippiMississippi Mississippi No No
Josh Hawley republican USA MissouriMissouri Missouri No No
Roy Blunt republican USA MissouriMissouri Missouri No No
Jon Tester democrat USA MontanaMontana Montana Yes Yes
Steve Daines republican USA MontanaMontana Montana No No
Deb Fischer republican USA NebraskaNebraska Nebraska No No
Ben Sasse republican USA NebraskaNebraska Nebraska No No
Jacky roses democrat USA NevadaNevada Nevada Yes Yes
Catherine Cortez Masto democrat USA NevadaNevada Nevada Yes Yes
Jeanne Shaheen democrat USA New HampshireNew Hampshire New Hampshire Yes Yes
Maggie Hassan democrat USA New HampshireNew Hampshire New Hampshire Yes Yes
Bob Menendez democrat USA New JerseyNew Jersey New Jersey Yes Yes
Cory Booker democrat USA New JerseyNew Jersey New Jersey Yes Yes
Martin Heinrich democrat USA New MexicoNew Mexico New Mexico Yes Yes
Tom Udall democrat USA New MexicoNew Mexico New Mexico Yes Yes
Kirsten Gillibrand democrat USA New Yorknew York new York Yes Yes
Chuck Schumer democrat USA New Yorknew York new York Yes Yes
Thom Tillis republican USA North CarolinaNorth Carolina North Carolina No No
Richard Burr republican USA North CarolinaNorth Carolina North Carolina No No
Kevin Cramer republican USA North DakotaNorth Dakota North Dakota No No
John Hoeven republican USA North DakotaNorth Dakota North Dakota No No
Sherrod Brown democrat USA OhioOhio Ohio Yes Yes
Rob Portman republican USA OhioOhio Ohio No No
Jim Inhofe republican USA OklahomaOklahoma Oklahoma No No
James Lankford republican USA OklahomaOklahoma Oklahoma No No
Jeff Merkley democrat USA OregonOregon Oregon Yes Yes
Ron Wyden democrat USA OregonOregon Oregon Yes Yes
Bob Casey Jr. democrat USA PennsylvaniaPennsylvania Pennsylvania Yes Yes
Pat Toomey republican USA PennsylvaniaPennsylvania Pennsylvania No No
Sheldon Whitehouse democrat USA Rhode IslandRhode Island Rhode Island Yes Yes
Jack Reed democrat USA Rhode IslandRhode Island Rhode Island Yes Yes
Lindsey Graham republican USA South CarolinaSouth carolina South carolina No No
Tim Scott republican USA South CarolinaSouth carolina South carolina No No
Mike Rounds republican USA South DakotaSouth Dakota South Dakota No No
John Thune republican USA South DakotaSouth Dakota South Dakota No No
Marsha Blackburn republican USA TennesseeTennessee Tennessee No No
Lamar Alexander republican USA TennesseeTennessee Tennessee No No
Ted Cruz republican USA TexasTexas Texas No No
John Cornyn republican USA TexasTexas Texas No No
Mitt Romney republican USA UtahUtah Utah Yes No
Mike Lee republican USA UtahUtah Utah No No
Bernie Sanders Independently USA VermontVermont Vermont Yes Yes
Patrick Leahy democrat USA VermontVermont Vermont Yes Yes
Tim Kaine democrat USA VirginiaVirginia Virginia Yes Yes
Mark Warner democrat USA VirginiaVirginia Virginia Yes Yes
Maria Cantwell democrat USA WashingtonWashington Washington Yes Yes
Patty Murray democrat USA WashingtonWashington Washington Yes Yes
Joe Manchin democrat USA West VirginiaWest Virginia West Virginia Yes Yes
Shelley Moore Capito republican USA West VirginiaWest Virginia West Virginia No No
Tammy Baldwin democrat USA WisconsinWisconsin Wisconsin Yes Yes
Ron Johnson republican USA WisconsinWisconsin Wisconsin No No
John Barrasso republican USA WyomingWyoming Wyoming No No
Mike Enzi republican USA WyomingWyoming Wyoming No No

consequences

The day after his acquittal, Trump addressed cabinet members, senior Republicans and supporters at the White House in what he himself described as a celebration. The largely improvised speech consisted to a large extent of attacks against opposition Democrats such as Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. He made fun of Mitt Romney for his failed presidential candidacy against Obama. To celebrate his acquittal, he held up an issue of the Washington Post titled Trump Acquitted and thanked his supporters. He emphasized that he had done nothing wrong and described the phone call with Zelenskyi as perfect and very good again. The media compared Trump's statement with that of Bill Clinton following his impeachment acquittal in 1999, highlighting the difference that Clinton said he deeply regretted his actions. While Clinton's statement lasted about two minutes, Trump spoke for just under an hour.

Earlier, his spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham had said on Fox News that Trump would use the occasion to talk about how "horrific" he had been treated - "and that maybe people should pay for it." On February 7, Alexander Vindman was initially banned from the White House as an advisor to the National Security Council and later Gordon Sondland was also recalled as ambassador to the European Union. On the same day, Vindman's twin brother Yevgeny, who had nothing to do with the trial, also had to leave the White House.

Second impeachment proceedings

background

Participants in the storm in front of the Capitol in Washington

On January 6, 2021, both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate met in the Capitol in Washington DC to confirm the Electoral College's vote and thus the election victory of Democrat Joe Biden . Earlier, Trump, whose term of office would end in 14 days, had summoned his supporters for a Save America March and appeared in Ellipse Park with his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani , to encourage the thousands of supporters who appeared to move to the Capitol and there To prevent Congress proceedings.

While Trump withdrew to the White House , his supporters marched to the Capitol. The protest escalated when the protesters removed security barriers and entered the building at around 2 p.m. As a result, the meetings were suspended and the halls evacuated; protesters broke into the plenary hall, but also entered offices, such as Nancy Pelosi's , and gathered in the hallways. Outside the Capitol, demonstrators destroyed television crews' equipment and occasionally attacked journalists. After the US Capitol Police, the National Guard also advanced, although Trump did not agree to it at first, according to media reports. Overall, during the riots five people including the killed, Air Force -Veteranin Ashli Babbitt .

proposals

14. Amendment to the Constitution

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment describes that someone who swears to support the Constitution and later participates in an uprising may be removed from office. Despite the support of some Democrats, its application to President Trump was considered very unlikely. It would have made Vice President Mike Pence his legal successor until Joe Biden's inauguration, and would have been the first activation of the article since 1919, when Victor L. Berger was prevented from taking a seat in the House for his violation of the Espionage Act .

25. Amendment to the Constitution

In addition to proposing a second impeachment trial, many Democrats and Republicans approved the implementation of the 25th Amendment , which allows a president to be removed from office due to inability to govern, but usually for health reasons. Because they needed Vice President Mike Pence's approval before the House and Senate approval , Spokeswoman Pelosi called the Vice President on January 10, but stayed on hold for 25 minutes. After he canceled, the Democrats set pence an ultimatum of 24 hours; on January 12, he wrote to oppose the application of the amendment on the grounds that it was not in the nation's interest and would set a "terrible precedent." In that case, too, Pence would have become President of the United States.

Renewed removal proceedings

Even during the riots, politicians criticized the president, including the Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , who posted the word “impeach” on Twitter . Another MP, the Democrat Ilhan Omar , wrote that she had already started drafting an impeachment article against Trump. She later shared part of her writing on the platform that also included Cortez and Hank Johnson , Ayanna Pressley , Rashida Tlaib , Mondaire Jones , Veronica Escobar , Cori Bush , David Cicilline and Ted Lieu . Cicilline and Lieu produced together with the representative of the State of Maryland , Jamie Raskin on, another article for removal from office, which had more than 110 members connected according Cicilline. Furthermore, Mark Takano and Tim Ryan spoke out in favor of impeachment. Nancy Pelosi agreed with her colleagues and said in an interview on January 7th that "the President of the United States instigated an armed uprising against America".

Of the Republicans, only the representative Adam Kinziger initially spoke out in favor of impeachment. On January 12, further supporters of the party declared their support; First came John Katko in the public, the serious damage to the future of democracy feared if Trump would come out with the cause of the rebellion. Thereafter, the Republican third-ranked woman in the House of Representatives, Liz Cheney , stated that she was voting for impeachment on a conscientious basis. Other supporters were the representatives Fred Upton and Jaime Herrera Beutler . Internally, Senate Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell said that ousting the Republican Party would be an opportunity to distance itself from Trump and Trumpism.

Still, many Republicans shared their concerns about a second impeachment trial. On January 8, Lindsey Graham tweeted that it would "do more harm than good"; he later indicated that Pelosi and Chuck Schumer wanted to proceed with a trial as they were concerned about their own political survival. Mitch McConnell spoke out publicly against a trial because the Senate would not be able to deal with the matter before January 19, Trump's last day as president, for reasons of time. Thus, the trial against Trump would not begin before Biden's inauguration. John Bolton also spoke out against impeachment and stated with regard to the constitutional amendments that if Trump objected, there would be "two competing presidencies". [[File: Nancy Pelosi signs the article of the second impeachment of Donald Trump 14.png | mini | 286x286px | Nancy Pelosi , spokeswoman , signs impeachment resolution following House approval . A two-thirds majority in the Senate is required for a conviction , which the Democrats do not have on their own.

development

Pelosi named Jamie Raskin, as well as David Cicilline , Joaquin Castro , Diana DeGette , Eric Swalwell , Ted Lieu , Stacey Plaskett , Joe Neguse and Madeleine Dean as the procedural director . On January 11, the Raskin, Cicline and Lieu tabled an impeachment resolution in the House of Representatives. It said that Trump encouraged the demonstrators to revolt, thereby jeopardizing the democracy of the United States and also taking action against a peaceful transfer of power. On January 13, 232 votes to 197, with four abstentions, were in favor of impeachment. In addition to all Democrats, ten Republicans also voted, including Liz Cheney , Anthony Gonzalez , Jaime Herrera Beutler , John Katko , Adam Kinzinger , Dan Newhouse , Tom Rice , Fred Upton and David Valadao .

Web links

Commons : Impeachment Proceedings against Donald Trump  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Documents :

Examination:

Accusation:

Senate proceedings:

Individual evidence

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