Trump impeachment: House votes to formalise inquiry

The U.S. House of Representatives has adopted a resolution on the formal prosecution of President Donald Trump.

The measure details how the investigation is going to progress into a more open process. It was not a referendum to remove the president from office.

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This was the Democratic-controlled House’s first test of support for the impeachment process.

The White House condemned the vote that went along party lines.

Only two Democrats–representing districts that Mr Trump handily won in 2016–voted against the resolution, along with all Republicans, for a total of 232 in favour, and 196 in opposition.

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The resolution also sets the due process rights under the congressional inquiry for Mr Trump’s attorneys.

The Republican president is accused of attempting to pressure Ukraine to investigate unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, who worked with the Ukrainian gas company Burisma.

Mr Trump refuses to do wrong.

Democrats have been blamed by Republicans for the closed hearings-in which Republican lawmakers also took part. But Democrats maintain that they were needed to gather information in front of the investigation’s public stage and deny claims that they were clandestine.

The resolution pushes the investigation into a new phase that could potentially see proposed articles of impeachment against Mr Trump.

Source: www.bbc.com