WASHINGTON _ Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday that she is asking House committees to move to impeach President Donald Trump, taking a major step toward making him just the third president in American history to face that sanction.
"The facts are uncontested," Pelosi said. "The president abused his power for his own personal political benefit."
"His wrongdoing strikes at the very heart of our Constitution," she added. "Our democracy is what is at stake. The president leaves us no choice but to act."
Pelosi made her statement in the same long hallway where just two months ago she announced the impeachment inquiry into Trump's attempt to pressure Ukraine into investigating his potential political rival Joe Biden and other Democrats. Pelosi took no questions as she made her announcement.
The House Intelligence Committee, which conducted a two-month investigation into Trump's conduct, voted Tuesday to present a 300-page report to the House Judiciary Committee. That committee is tasked with whether to formally recommend articles of impeachment, and held its first hearing on Wednesday to educate members _ and the public _ about impeachment.
Three legal scholars testified that Trump's efforts provided grounds for impeachment. A fourth expert, chosen by Republicans, said the House was moving too quickly and has not proven its case.
Wednesday, at a closed-door caucus of Democratic lawmakers, Pelosi reportedly asked her colleagues "Are you ready?"
The answer was a resounding yes.
Some lawmakers had questioned whether there is enough time left in the calendar year to finish the inquiry and vote on articles of impeachment before the House is scheduled to recess on Dec. 20.
The current timeline means the Trump impeachment process is likely to almost precisely mirror the one the Republican-majority House followed in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998. The House in that case voted in late December to impeach.
In two tweets early Thursday, Trump said House Democrats have no case and are demeaning the country, but also urged the House to move quickly.
"If you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business," he said, adding he wants to require Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and perhaps Pelosi herself to testify.
Democrats say Trump abused the powers of his office by putting his personal political gain ahead of the national interest. His request during a July 25 telephone call that Ukrainian president Voldymyr Zelenskiy "do us a favor" by announcing politically motivated investigations amounted to soliciting a bribe, they say.
At the time, Trump was withholding badly needed security aid from Ukraine and also was refusing to give Zelenskiy a meeting at the White House that the newly elected Ukrainian president badly wanted.
If the House does vote to impeach, the Senate would hold a trial, probably in January. Agreement of two-thirds of senators would be needed to remove Trump from office, and with Republicans holding a majority of the chamber, that currently appears highly unlikely.
