- Title: U.S. House to launch Trump impeachment inquiry over Ukraine controversy
- Date: 24th September 2019
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 24, 2019) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI WALKING TO PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, DEMOCRAT, SAYING: "The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution, especially when the president says, 'Article 2 says I can do whatever I want.' For the past several months, we have been investigating and our committees and litigating in the courts so the House can gather all the relevant facts and consider whether to exercise its full Article 1 powers including a constitutional power of the utmost gravity, approval of articles of impeachment. And this week, the president has admitted to asking the president of Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically. The action of the Trump, the actions of the Trump presidency revealed the dishonorable fact of the president's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections. Therefore today, I'm announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry. I'm directing our six committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella of impeachment inquiry. The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, DEMOCRAT, SAYING: "The Intelligence Committee's Inspector General formally notified the Congress that the administration was forbidding him from turning over a whistleblower complaint. On Constitution Day. This is a violation of law. Shortly thereafter, press reports began to break of a phone call by the president of the United States calling upon a foreign party to intervene in his election. This is a breach of his Constitutional responsibilities. The facts are these. The intelligence community's Inspector General, who is appointed by President Trump, determined that the complaint is both of urgent concern and credible. And its disclosure, he went on to say, relates to one of the most significant important of the Director of National Intelligence's responsibility to the American people. On Thursday, the Inspector General testified before the House Intelligence Committee stating that the acting director of National Intelligence blocked him from disclosing the whistleblower complaint. This is a violation of law. The law is unequivocal. The DNI staff, it says the DNI, DNI, Director of National Intelligence shall provide Congress the full whistleblower complaint."
- Embargoed: 8th October 2019 23:01
- Keywords: Pelosi Trump impeachment Ukraine investigation AOC Ocasio-Cortez
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002AY0RMTJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The U.S. House of Representatives will launch a formal impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump over reports he sought foreign help to smear a political rival, setting up a dramatic clash between Congress and the White House that could spill into the 2020 presidential campaign.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the inquiry on Tuesday (September 24) after a closed-door meeting with Democratic lawmakers, saying Trump's actions appeared to have undermined national security and violated the U.S. Constitution.
"The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law," said Pelosi, who had for months been reluctant to embrace an impeachment effort.
Pelosi's change of heart followed reports that Trump had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July 25 phone call to investigate Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden and his son.
The controversy came to light after a whistleblower from within the U.S. intelligence community lodged a complaint with an internal watchdog about Trump's conversation with Zelenskiy.
Pelosi said the six congressional committees currently investigating Trump would continue with their probes as part of the inquiry.
Trump has confirmed he had withheld nearly $400 million in U.S. aid to Ukraine but denied he did so as leverage to get Zelenskiy to initiate an investigation that would damage Biden.
He also said the transcript would show the call was "totally appropriate," that he had not pressured Zelenskiy to investigate Biden and that there had been no "quid pro quo" for U.S. aid in exchange for a probe
Trump, who has withstood repeated scandals since taking office in January 2017, said a "complete, fully declassified and unredacted" transcript of the July 25 call would be released on Wednesday.
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