In a historic move, House Democrats this week unveiled two articles of impeachment against US President Donald Trump, accusing him of abusing his office for personal political gain and obstructing the congressional impeachment inquiry.
It was only the fourth time in the 243-year history of the United States that impeachment charges have been brought against an American leader, and if he is indeed impeached, he will be only the third US president to have been so disgraced.
The first article charges Trump with abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine to assist him in his re-election campaign by damaging his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. The second article charges him with obstruction of Congress for blocking testimony and refusing to provide documents in response to House subpoenas in the impeachment inquiry.
If the House judiciary committee approves the articles, they would go to the House floor for a debate and vote as early as next week.
The articles of impeachment are almost certain to be approved by the US House, where the Democrats hold 233 a majority of the 435 seats. But Trump will just as certainly be acquitted in the impeachment trial before the US Senate, where his Republic Party holds a majority, with 53 of the 100 seats. The Democrats, who hold only 45 seats, would need to win over at least 21 Republican senators to reach the 67 percent needed to convict—but not a single one has publicly acknowledged any wrongdoing on the US President’s part. On the contrary, his most vociferous Republican defenders continue to mouth Trump’s discredited conspiracy theories about Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 US elections and a “deep state” plot to oust him as a way to discredit the accusations against him—even though the entire US intelligence community and the US inspector general have dismissed these as nonsense.
So it is that the impeachment of President Trump appears to be a foregone conclusion because of the partisanship that attends it. He will be impeached—or charged—but not ousted.
From the outside looking in, the most remarkable aspect to this entire episode is the utter refusal of Republican lawmakers and Trump supporters to even acknowledge there was anything wrong in having their leader solicit foreign help to discredit his political rival. Nor do they seem willing to accept the overwhelming evidence—including Trump’s own words—that he applied pressure on another country, the Ukraine, to achieve this goal.
Of course, Trump has done this before and got away with it, publicly asking for help from Russia—and getting it—to find dirt on his 2016 Democratic rival, Hilary Clinton.
The other remarkable aspect of the ongoing US impeachment is the indifference—at least according to opinion polls—that most Americans show in the face of clear wrongdoing by their president, and their willingness to swallow the lies that he continues to sow, in total disregard of the facts.
So, in the light of his impending acquittal by the US Senate and the hold he has over so many Americans, we say, Dasvidaniya, Mr. Trump. Until we meet again, post-impeachment.