The Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives on January 14 will decide when to transmit the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, the legislative chamber’s speaker, Nancy Pelosi (Democrat-California), has said.
Speaking on an ABC news program on January 12, Pelosi said a vote will take place on the timing of sending formal charges of impeachment to the Senate for a trial and naming of trial managers in the House who will act as prosecutors during the judicial proceedings.
The rules of the Senate trial remain unsettled, including the naming of additional witnesses to testify.
However, Trump is expected to be acquitted of charges that he abused the power of his office for personal gain and then obstructed Congress.
Democrats in the House accuse Trump of prodding Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden who is seen as a potential competitor in this year’s presidential election.
Trump had withheld nearly $400 million in military aid for Kyiv while asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration to pursue investigations into Biden and his son Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukrainian energy firm.
Trump is accused of obstructing Congress by withholding documents that the House had requested during the fact-finding phase of the impeachment inquiry. He also allegedly blocked the testimony of administration officials and agencies during the impeachment inquiry.
Trump’s fellow Republicans who control the Senate by a margin of 53-47 are expected to acquit him.
The president has insisted he has done nothing wrong and dismissed the impeachment inquiry as a hoax and a “witch hunt.”
It will be the third impeachment trial in U.S. history.
Pelosi To Send Articles Of Impeachment To U.S. Senate For Historic Trial
The U.S. speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (file photo)