The beginning of an investigation in the lower house due to alleged pressure from US President Donald Trump to Ukraine to harm his political rival Joe Biden, is the first step in a dismissal process whose nature is political, not legal, and has uncertain repercussions.
The Constitution provides that Congress may dismiss the president (vice or federal judges …) in case of treason, corruption or other crimes.
The procedure takes place in two stages.
First, the House of Representatives investigates and votes, by simple majority (218 votes in 435), the accusation against the president, a procedure known as “ impeachment ”.
In case the president is formally accused, the Senate starts the political trial.
At the end of the debates, the 100 senators make statements about each article of the accusation. A two-thirds majority is required to condemn the president. If that majority meets, the removal is automatic and irreversible. If the necessary votes are not reached, the president is declared innocent.
Never in the history of the country was a president dismissed.
Two were charged, but finally declared innocent: Democrats Andrew Johnson, in 1868; and Bill Clinton, who was denounced for “perjury” in 1998, due to his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Republican Richard Nixon, in 1974, preferred to resign to avoid his safe dismissal by Congress in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
Numerous Democratic lawmakers have been demanding since April the start of a impeachment procedure against Trump based on the conclusions of an investigation for alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
After two years of investigations, special prosecutor Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between Moscow and Trump’s team when he was a candidate.
On the other hand, the special prosecutor revealed a series of worrying pressures on his work that could be described as “obstruction of justice.”
The Democrats in turn opened two parliamentary investigations on the fiscal situation of the president, the possible existence of a conflict of interests with his businesses and the sums paid to silence possible lovers.
Now they also know that the White House tenant abused his power to harm former Vice President Joe Biden, currently a favorite to win the Democratic presidential candidacy for the 2020 elections.
Lawmakers wonder if he blocked military aid to Ukraine to force Kiev to open a corruption investigation against Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
crhoy.com