On Sept. 24, an impeachment inquiry was issued against President Donald Trump by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. After talks are investigated between the President and Ukraine, he was charged with “betraying his oath of office and the nation’s security by seeking to enlist a foreign power to tarnish a rival for his own political gain.” According to The New York Times.
The President’s reaction was not far from unusual believing that it was a witch-hunt, a term he uses frequently while democrats look further into his time in office. On Sept. 24 he tweeted, “The Democrats purposely had to ruin and demean it with more breaking news Witch Hunt garbage. So bad for our Country!”
When Pelosi made the announcement, she stated “No one is above the law.” University junior Emma Note said, “I think the impeachment inquiry was the right course of action with the information presented because it showed the president’s abuse of power. I think that it will be interesting to see how the country responds to having a president under investigation continue to hold office as well as run for reelection; that has never been done before.”
Once a non-binding resolution was approved by the Republican-led Senate called for the, “Trump administration to immediately provide the House and Senate intelligence committees a copy of a whistle-blower complaint” involving the President. In recent times, the whistleblower has come out against Trump and his activity within the Oval Office and foreign countries. It was brought to light that Trump was conversing with the President of Ukraine in mid-August. In the call, Trump apparently prodded the new President of Ukraine to work alongside Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani and U.S. attorney general to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. All according to a July 25 call.
The release of the phone call on Sept. 25 led Pelosi to confirm that an impeachment inquiry was necessary. “The release of the notes of the call by the White House confirms that the President engaged in behavior that undermines the integrity of our elections, the dignity of the office he holds and our national security,” Pelosi said in a press statement.
The President denies pushing the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a current rival in the run for President in the 2020 election, as well as his son Hunter Biden.
According to CNN, on Sept. 26 the whistleblower tentatively agrees to testify in front of members of Congress. Also, on Sept. 26, a majority of the house—217 representatives—agree with the impeachment inquiry. The majority consist of majority Democrats and one independent. On this day, part of the whistleblower’s complaint was released along with the announcement that he was a CIA agent detailed in the White House but has not returned to the CIA.
After days of communication between the White House and Congress a poll taken on Oct. 3 read that 45 percent of Americans support impeaching Trump.
Throughout the past several weeks, many people within the Trump administration have been subpoenaed but on Sept. 30, Giuliani was asked to turn over any documents involving the mentioning of an investigation into the Bidens’ involvement with China.
Trump publicly spoke out on Oct. 3 saying that he believes Ukraine and China should take means to start an investigation against Biden and his son. Vice President Mike Pence announced he believes there should be an end to these “endless investigations.” The following day, House Democrats demanded documents from Pence in relation to the impeachment inquiry.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made claims, on Oct. 5 while in Athens, Greece, that members of Congress were harassing his department in order to obtain documents. Along with the of people subpoenaed Pompeo received a subpoena in the inquiry for documents that are required by the law.
University junior Owen McGonigle said “Personally, I will admit my own ignorance as per how the process of impeachment occurs. While I consider myself fairly up to date with the political events of our country, I sometimes lack logistical and background knowledge to know exactly what should be happening at each moment. However, I would love to see Trump out of office. This presidency has been nothing but disgraceful, and I would take great relief in his impeachment.”
As of Oct. 4, there had been another announcement of a second whistleblower, and as of Oct. 6, the whistleblower officially came forward. The second complaint was mentioned by Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson. Attorney Andrew Bakaj’s firm is representing multiple whistleblowers, saying, “I can confirm that my firm and my team represent multiple whistleblowers in connection to the underlying Aug. 12, 2019, disclosure to the Intelligence Community Inspector General.”
In the days following, Republicans have slowly backed the impeachment. Notable reactions come from Sen. Mitt Romney and Biden himself.
Sen. Romney made a public comment in regard to the Biden search saying it is “wrong and appalling.” President Trump tweeted a response to Romney, saying, “Mitt Romney never knew how to win. He is a pompous ‘ass’ who has been fighting me from the beginning…” and, “Somebody please wake up Mitt Romney and tell him that my conversation with the Ukrainian President was a congenial and very appropriate one, and my statement on China pertained to corruption, not politics. If Mitt worked this hard on Obama, he could have won. Sadly, he choked!”
Mitt Romney never knew how to win. He is a pompous “ass” who has been fighting me from the beginning, except when he begged me for my endorsement for his Senate run (I gave it to him), and when he begged me to be Secretary of State (I didn’t give it to him). He is so bad for R’s!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2019
A reaction from Biden came from a campaign manager Kate Bedingfield on Oct. 2, saying that Trump is “desperately clutching for conspiracy theories that have been debunked and dismissed by independent, credible news organizations.” She went on to say, “Now, with his administration in free-fall, Donald Trump is flailing and melting down on national television.”
Only time will tell if the inquiry results in the impeachment of President Trump.
