US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she intends to transmit articles of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate next week, ending a taut standoff with Republicans over terms of the president’s trial.
Several U.S. Analysts have opined that Trump’s recent order of killing Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani and the rise in US-Iran tensions that followed, is an attempt to divert attention of the US public from his impeachment trial and establish himself as a ‘wartime commander’.
Trump’s frustration on the impeachment proceedings is evident from his consistent tweets aimed at discrediting and preventing the impeachment proceedings. However, the House of Representatives (Lower House of US Congress) has already impeached President Trump and it’s decision will be effective once passed in the Senate as well.
Though it is unlikely that the Republican-held Senate would go against Trump, the Democrats are leaving no stone unturned to put Trump to task for his abuse of power and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s moves to expedite the process are a testament to it.
If Republican Senators move for a quick dismissal of the charges against the President, with no witnesses or documents, it will be because they are afraid of the truth.
Dismissal = cover-up#DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/umIRNjqopH
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 9, 2020
“I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate,” Pelosi said in a letter to her Democratic caucus.
“I will be consulting with you at our Tuesday House Democratic Caucus meeting on how we proceed further.”
Pelosi has withheld the articles since Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 18 for abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine to investigate his possible 2020 election rival Joe Biden; and for obstructing the subsequent congressional probe.
Some Republicans saw Pelosi’s announcement as a sign she had backed down in the staring contest with McConnell
The top Democrat in Congress had hoped Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, of Trump’s Republican Party, would provide assurances of what she described as a “fair” trial in which Democrats can subpoena witnesses and documents.
But McConnell, like Pelosi a master political strategist, refused to budge, and announced Tuesday that he had a sufficient number of Republican votes to conduct a trial without acceding to Democratic demands.
For weeks Pelosi left Democrats and Republicans alike guessing what and when her next move would be.
Democrats argue that her delay allowed dramatic new information to emerge before the trial, including Trump’s former national security advisor John Bolton announcing on Monday that he was prepared to testify before the Senate if subpoenaed.
Read more: War of words rages as Pelosi blocks Trump’s speech to Congress
But as Democrats mulled what further benefits, if any, there were to further delay the trial, Pelosi came under increasing pressure to send the charges to the Senate.
“Clearly, Leader McConnell does not want to present witnesses and documents to Senators and the American people so they can make an independent judgment about the president’s actions,” Pelosi said in her letter.
“Every Senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the President or the Constitution.”
Speaker Pelosi: “Today, Leader McConnell made clear that he will feebly comply with President Trump's cover-up … Every Senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the President or the Constitution. The GOP Senate must immediately proceed in a manner worthy of the Constitution."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 3, 2020
The process and outcome of the impeachment proceedings in the Senate will undoubtedly have a serious effect on the upcoming Presidential Elections.
AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk