Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced Tuesday that she will move forward with a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
In the statement Pelosi gave at the U.S. Capitol, she attributed her decision to begin a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump based on a phone call Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which it was alleged that Trump had asked for a political favor. An unclassified transcript of the conversation have since been released.
“I can say with authority the Trump administration actions undermine both our national security and our intelligence and our protections of whistleblowers.”
Pelosi stated that the acting Director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, will go before the House Intelligence Committee at which time he must release relinquish the whistleblower complaint in its totality.
“He will have to choose whether to break the law or honor his responsibility to the constitution,” Pelosi said.
The first half of President Trump’s term was plagued with the Mueller Special Investigation. It appears as though his second half will be largely consumed with impeachment proceedings.
“The actions taken today by the president have seriously violated the constitution,” said Pelosi.
Pelosi further added that the House and committees within have, for months, been investigating the president in an effort to gather “all the relevant facts” and make a determination as to how best to proceed with the information uncovered.
With the recent allegation that Trump has illegally withheld money from Ukraine, Pelosi believed this to be the tipping point.
“The actions of the Trump presidency revealed dishonorable fact of the president’s betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections,” Pelosi said.
Shortly after Pelosi’s announcement, Trump spoke with reporters on the situation.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Trump said. “It’s a witch hunt. I’m leading in the polls. They have no idea how they stop me, the only way they can try is through impeachment.”
Andrew Jacobs, a 21-year-old GRCC student weighed in on the matter.
“As much as I am not a big fan of Trump, it seems that the impeachment process is being rushed,” Jacobs said. “They do not have enough solid evidence of a crime, and a lot of it seems like it’s based off of emotion.”
Aware of the allegations that Trump withhold funding to Ukraine, Jacobs still does not believe that to be enough for impeachment.
“The $400 million that was held along with the phone call a week later makes me skeptical, but they did have a good reason as to why it was held,” Jacobs said. “It honestly seems like a waste of time, because you cannot be impeached unless there is solid evidence. To me, there does not seem to be enough, at least not yet.”
Under Pelosi’s instruction, the six House committees will continue investigations into the president and his administration under the “umbrella of impeachment inquiry.”
“The president must be held accountable,” Pelosi said. “No one is above the law.”
