- Title: U.S. House to launch Trump impeachment inquiry over Ukraine controversy
- Date: 24th September 2019
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF U.S. CAPITOL
- 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: LVA001AY0RMTJ
- 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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