Published 11:17 IST, December 22nd 2019
Donald Trump slams impeachment delay in Senate, calls it 'unfair'
US President Donald Trump has criticised Nancy Pelosi and said 'it's unfair' for holding off on sending the articles of impeachment against him to the senate.
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The United States President Donald Trump has reportedly criticised House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and said 'it's unfair' for holding off on sending the articles of impeachment against him to the senate. Trump's comments came on December 21 during a speech to conservative student group Turning Point USA. He further said that Pelosi adopted the strategy because she has 'no case' and the democratic house are violating the constitution. According to international media reports, Pelosi has not yet sent the impeachment package to the Senate in a bid to increase pressure on Republicans, nor she has yet announced the managers, or prosecutors, who will present evidence in the trial.
US President Donald Trump has become only the third President to be impeached on December 18 after Democrat-led House of Representatives passed the charges in a historic vote. While for the most part Trump is impeached, his removal from the office will now be decided in Republican-led House Senate. In what is next for the defiant US President, these charges of 'abuse of power' and 'obstruction to Congress' will be in Senate for a trial. The house with Republican majority sits as a High Court in which the senators 'consider evidence, hear witnesses' and then vote to acquit or convict Trump.
Trump slams Pelosi
Earlier this week, Trump had slammed Pelosi for the partisan impeachment crusade being pursued by the Democrats. Calling the impeachment 'invalid', Trump in his scathing six-page letter told Pelosi, “They include no crimes, no misdemeanours, and no offences whatsoever. You have cheapened the importance of the very ugly word, impeachment!". The letter came a day before the House was set to vote on his impeachment. "By proceeding with your invalid impeachment, you are violating your oaths of office, you are breaking your allegiance to the Constitution, and you are declaring open war on American Democracy," he said. Trump further accused Pelosi of turning a policy disagreement between two branches of government into an impeachable offence.
"You know full well that Vice President Biden used his office and $1 billion dollars of U.S. aid money to coerce Ukraine into firing the prosecutor who was digging into the company paying his son millions of dollars. You know this because Biden bragged about it on video," Trump said in a letter put up by White House on its website. Trump further said he has no doubt that American people will hold "you and the democrats fully responsible in 2020 election."
(With ANI inputs)
11:00 IST, December 22nd 2019