Nancy Pelosi says House will move Trump impeachment charges to Senate next week

Nany Pelosi has said the Democratic-led House of Representatives will send impeachment charges against Donald Trump to the Senate as early as next week
AP
Stephanie Cockroft10 January 2020

The US House of Representatives will send formal impeachment charges against Donald Trump to the Senate as early as next week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said.

The move will set the stage for Mr Trump's long-awaited trial after he was impeached on charges that he abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate a domestic political rival and obstructed efforts by Congress to investigate the alleged misconduct.

In a letter to lawmakers in the Democratic-led House, Ms Pelosi said she has asked House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler to "be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate."

"I will be consulting with you at our Tuesday House Democratic Caucus meeting on how we proceed further," she said in the letter.

Although Mr Trump was impeached last month, a trial to determine his guilt or innocence cannot begin in the Republican-controlled Senate until the House transmits the charges.

The US leader, pictured this week, was impeached last month
REUTERS

Ms Pelosi has withheld the charges, known formally as articles of impeachment, for weeks in a bid to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to divulge details of his plan for a Senate trial.

Democrats, fearing the Senate could quickly dismiss charges against Mr Trump, want a guarantee that the trial will include testimony from new witnesses, including former Trump national security adviser John Bolton.

Ms Pelosi on Friday accused Mr McConnell of "intentions to stonewall a fair trial" by signing onto Senate legislation that would dismiss the charges against Mr Trump and therefore short-circuit the trial.

"A dismissal is a cover-up and deprives the American people of the truth," she said in her letter.

Mr McConnell has said Ms Pelosi cannot tell the Senate how to conduct the trial. He says he has enough votes from his fellow Republicans to begin the proceedings without a commitment to call witnesses.

A an aide for Mr McConnell declined to say when a resolution spelling out the trial plan might be unveiled.

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