Nancy Pelosi Announces Trump Impeachment Inquiry, Black Lawmakers React
On Tuesday, September 24, Nancy Pelosi made the announcement, "Today I'm announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry," she said in a press conference.
After mounting pressure from the public, Pelosi says, “no one is above the law.” She continues, "I can say with authority, the Trump Administration's actions undermine both our national security and our intelligence and the protections of the whistleblowers. The actions of the Trump presidency revealed dishonorable facts of the president's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections."
The move puts the Democrats’ highest ranking Congressional leaders’ stamp on investigations that have already been underway in the House.
This announcement comes after a call the president made to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in July, that raised alarm from at least one intelligence official, who filed a whistleblower complaint immediately after. While the full text of the complaint has not been made public, multiple sources have reported that on the call, Trump pushed Ukraine’s government to investigate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in an apparent attempt to smear his father’s 2020 presidential campaign. Trump, reportedly, hoped to uncover corruption which may have consisted of the former Vice President withholding at least $250 million in military aid in an apparent quid pro quo. Currently, no evidence exists to support this claim.
After administration officials refused to hand over the full whistleblower complaint, the House Intelligence Committee is reportedly in talks with the whistleblower’s legal council and has been informed that the whistleblower is interested in testifying to the committee, as early as this week. The Senate has since voted 100-0 to release Trump’s whistleblower complaint when it is handed over, per U.S. law.
Donald Trump’s response on Twitter was calling it “PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!” and “A total Witch Hunt!”
Black Democratic members of Congress also took to social media to share their thoughts on the major development from House leadership. See what they had to say below:
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