Impeachment of Donald Trump

Impeachment of Donald Trump refers to the two times, in 2019 and 2021, respectively, that the forty-fifth president of the United States was impeached. The House of Representatives first approved articles of impeachment against Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress on December 18, 2019. However, Trump was acquitted of the charges by the Senate on February 5, 2020, and allowed to remain in office. On January 13, 2021, the House approved an article of impeachment against Trump on the charge of inciting insurrection against the US government. The Senate acquitted Trump of this charge on February 13, 2021.

The House launched a formal inquiry into Trump’s conduct regarding Ukraine after a whistleblower, an unnamed intelligence official, informed representatives about a phone conversation that Trump had had with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s newly elected president, on July 25, 2019. The whistleblower, as well as other witnesses and a rough transcript of the call, indicated that Trump had offered Zelensky a coveted meeting with him at the White House in exchange for an investigation into possible wrongdoings committed in Ukraine by his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. Prior to the conversation, Trump had personally blocked nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine, which the country had planned to use in its ongoing conflict with Russia. Despite strong evidence uncovered by the House, Trump repeatedly denied that a quid pro quo, a favor granted for an action, ever took place between his administration and Ukraine.

As in past presidential impeachments, strong alliances existed among political parties and Congress remained sharply divided along party lines. President Donald Trump is a Republican. In 2019–20, Democrats had control of the House, which impeached Trump, while Republicans had control of the Senate, which quickly acquitted him.

Following the November 2020 general election, the Democrats had retained control of the House while also gaining control of the Senate. As the election had been particularly tumultuous because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud that led to legal challenges and a refusal to officially concede defeat, tensions remained high as Congress met to confirm the election results on January 6, 2021. Trump held a rally for his supporters that day, and the congressional process was ultimately delayed when a large group of individuals protesting the results stormed the Capitol building during the sessions. Though the members of Congress resumed their sessions later that day and Joe Biden's win was confirmed, many in both parties condemned the act of violence as a threat to democracy and linked the attack to Trump and his rhetoric.

Background

The impeachment of a president is a political rather than a criminal process. It refers to bringing charges in Congress that will serve as the basis for a trial to determine whether a president is removed from office. The US Constitution states that a president “shall be removed from office on impeachment for, a conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors.”

The impeachment process occurs in two stages. During the first stage, the articles of impeachment are brought before the House, where representatives vote on whether or not the president's actions warrant impeachment. If a majority of the House votes for impeachment, then the impeachment process moves to the Senate, where a trial is held. If two-thirds of the Senate votes to convict, the president is removed from power and the vice president leads the country. If less than two-thirds of the Senate votes to convict, then the president remains in office.

Trump’s presidential impeachment was the third in US history. President Andrew Johnson (1808–75), who became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, was impeached in 1868. After the Civil War, Johnson was eager to restore the states that had seceded from the Union, but he did not protect Black voters’ rights in the South. This angered anti-slavery Republicans in the North and led to his impeachment in the House; however, Johnson was acquitted in the Senate by a single vote.

President Bill Clinton (1946– ) was charged with lying under oath and obstructing justice in 1998 for having denied involvement in a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinski, a White House intern, and being the subject of sexual harassment allegations made by Paula Jones. Clinton was impeached in the House but acquitted on both charges in the Senate.

On November 3, 2020, Trump became the first impeached president to seek reelection. Upon the House's second approval of an article of impeachment against him in January 2021, Trump became the first president to have been impeached two times.

Overview

President Trump’s first impeachment followed a formal House inquiry alleging that Trump had sought foreign interference in order to assist his campaign for reelection in the 2020 presidential election.

Prior to a telephone conversation on July 25, 2019, with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s newly elected president, Trump personally blocked nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine that was to be used to fund its military efforts against Russia, which had been embroiled in an ongoing standoff with Ukraine since the 2014 Ukraine crisis. During the conversation and in other communications, Trump had allegedly pressured Zelensky into launching two investigations. One concerned possible wrongdoings committed in Ukraine by Trump’s political rival, former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who had served on the board of directors of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company, from 2014–19. Trump may have been hoping to publicly smear Biden, his likely opponent in the 2020 presidential race, by causing the former vice president to be the subject of a criminal probe. (It was later determined that no wrongdoing had been committed by either Biden.)

The second investigation was into Trump’s own conspiracy theory that Ukraine, and not Russia, had interfered in the 2016 presidential election in favor of Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton. The Trump administration had been investigated for colluding with Russia to interfere on Trump’s behalf in the 2016 presidential election.

While Trump did not mention his blocking Ukraine’s military aid during the call, he discussed Zelensky’s planned visit to the White House to meet with Trump. Such a meeting would bolster Zelensky’s political status internationally.

The House also charged that Trump and his close associates refused to cooperate in the House investigation despite receiving several congressional subpoenas.

In the case of Trump's second impeachment, as his presidency was only weeks away from ending and the charge under consideration was viewed by supporters of impeachment to be one that particularly needed to be addressed, the House's approval of the article of impeachment was more fast-tracked than usual. Many considered the assault on the Capitol that they believed Trump had been involved in inciting was a particularly dangerous attack on the country's institution of democracy and its government. Some Republicans asserted that an impeachment and trial would only cause further division. Though Trump left office before a Senate trial could begin, impeachment supporters argued that the trial should still occur as Trump could still be stripped of the long-term financial and security benefits of the presidency.

Evidence

The formal inquiry by the House that resulted in the first impeachment began after the July 25 phone call was the subject of an anonymous complaint filed on August 2 in accordance with the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act. The whistleblower, an unnamed intelligence official, expressed concern in a letter about a quid pro quo Trump had made with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Among the evidence presented by the House was the following:

• A rough transcript of the call revealing that Trump urged Zelensky to investigate wrongdoings committed by Joe Biden and his son. During the call, Trump asked Zelensky to do him a favor and investigate Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian natural gas company for which Hunter Biden had worked. While Trump did not mention his withholding of military aid during the call, he repeatedly mentioned that the United States had been “very, very good” to Ukraine. When Zelensky inquired about obtaining additional US missiles, Trump replied “I would like you to do us a favor, though” and then referred to the investigation into the Bidens and an investigation into his own conspiracy theory that Ukraine had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
• A senior official later testified that Trump clearly stated to Zelensky on a different occasion that the military aid was conditional on whether Ukraine investigated the Bidens.
• Multiple witnesses testified that Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union (EU), mentioned in a presidential meeting that Zelensky would be granted a presidential meeting at the White House but only if Ukraine announced an investigation into the Bidens.
• The House obtained text and WhatsApp messages between Sondland and acting ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor from July 2019 discussing Zelensky’s announcement of an investigation in exchange for a meeting with Trump.
• Zelensky had planned to announce the investigation into the Bidens on a September 13 episode of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS. However, after Trump was told about the whistleblower, he released the aid on September 11 and the interview was canceled.
• On October 3, the New York Times reported that Sondland and Kurt Walker, US Special Envoy to Ukraine, had in August drafted a statement for Zelensky to sign a form indicating his intention to investigate Burisma Holdings.
• Days before the Senate trial, it was revealed that in his book manuscript, former National Security Advisor John Bolton said that Trump had planned to freeze military aid to Ukraine in exchange for a political favor.

In the House's January 2021 article of impeachment, it was argued that evidence that Trump had incited insurrection against the US government that had culminated in the attack on the Capitol could be found in his publicly repeated claims of voter fraud and a stolen election despite official investigations failing to turn up any evidence of fraud, the words of his speech to his supporters on the day of the attack, and prior attempts at obstruction regarding the election results, including a phone call considered threatening to Georgia's secretary of state. During the February Senate trial, prosecutors for the House showed videos of the Capitol attack and presented documentation such as some of Trump's postings on social media in an attempt to support a link to the mindset and even statements made by the people who stormed the Capitol.

Defense

In the case of the first impeachment, Trump’s lawyers focused on a quick trial and a speedy acquittal. The president’s defense was led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow. Trump also named Ken Starr, the prosecutor who led the defense team against Bill Clinton, to his defense team along with former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz.

During the Senate trial, Trump denied that his withholding of military aid had anything to do with investigating the Bidens. He contended that it was appropriate to ask Ukraine to investigate corruption at Burisma Holdings.

Supporting his defense was Zelensky’s statement that he felt no pressure to comply with Trump’s requests. Trump’s attorneys also noted that the military aid to Ukraine was eventually released.

The Senate voted to acquit Trump 52–48 on the charge of abuse of power and 53–47 on the charge of obstruction of justice. Republican senator Mitt Romney was the only one to cross party lines and vote to convict Trump on the charge of abuse of power. Two other moderate Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, did not vote to convict Trump as Democrats had hoped that they would.

The second Senate impeachment trial, taking place in February 2021, also involved a shorter presentation by Trump's defense team. Overall, they asserted that there was not any concrete proof of a direct link to Trump's involvement and that the impeachment and trial were simply politically motivated by Democrats. Additionally, they argued that Trump's speeches regarding the election used ubiquitous political rhetoric and were constitutionally protected.

After no witnesses were called for either side and final arguments were heard, the Senate voted on February 13 to acquit Trump 57–43 on the insurrection incitement charge. While the majority of Republicans voted to acquit, there were seven, including Collins and Murkowski, who voted that Trump was guilty.

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