- President Trump has been accused of making quid pro quo deals with Ukraine.
- Trump has not been officially impeached yet.
- No president has ever been removed from office due to impeachment.
WASHINGTON – A whistleblower revealed that President Trump tried to make an unauthorized deal with Ukraine. Now the President faces an impeachment inquiry from the House of Representatives.
After squeaking by the Bob Mueller investigation, President Trump is again amid another controversy. This time, an unnamed whistleblower revealed that Trump tried to make a quid pro quo deal with Ukraine. The complaint set enough alarms that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi initiated an impeachment inquiry last week. This was despite the fact that she never caved in to pressure to do so before.
In an attempt to prove his innocence, President Trump released a memorandum of the phone conversation. A lot of information was revealed by this memorandum.
An analysis from Politico helps us break it down. In the conversation, Trump tells the new Ukrainian President how much they rely on the US.
“I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than they are,” said President Trump.
This is in reference to the fact that the United States help defends Ukraine from Russian aggression. In response, President Volodymyr Zelensky responds by saying he will purchase more weapons from the US. Immediately afterward, President Trump asks President Zelensky for a favor.
Trump essentially asks Zelensky to do an investigation on Joe Biden and his son. The Biden’s were accused of wrongdoings in Ukraine while Joe Biden was Vice President. So far, the investigation has led to no wrongdoings from the Biden’s and was closed. But to get political dirt on Joe Biden, Trump is pressuring Zelensky to re-open the investigation.
Because of this, President Trump now faces an impeachment inquiry. It will take a couple of months before the impeachment proceedings are completed. First, all the committees in the House must investigate what happened. After that, articles of impeachment will be proposed. The House will then vote to go through with the articles of impeachment. If the vote is successful, President Trump will be impeached.
Impeachment does not mean removal. If Trump is impeached, then he will face trial in the Senate. The Senate will then decide on a two-thirds vote to remove the President of the United States or not. Since the Senate is currently controlled by Republicans, it is unlikely to happen. But being impeached will likely decrease President Trump’s election odds.