Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee released their report on Tuesday regarding the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
“The impeachment inquiry into Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States, uncovered a months-long effort by President Trump to use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election. As described in this executive summary and the report that follows, President Trump’s scheme subverted U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine and undermined our national security in favor of two politically motivated investigations that would help his presidential reelection campaign,” the report says.
“The President demanded that the newly-elected Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, publicly announce investigations into a political rival that he apparently feared the most, former Vice President Joe Biden, and into a discredited theory that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 presidential election. To compel the Ukrainian President to do his political bidding, President Trump conditioned two official acts on the public announcement of the investigations: a coveted White House visit and critical U.S. military assistance Ukraine needed to fight its Russian adversary,” the report continues.
The letter comes after House Republicans released their report on Monday on the impeachment inquiry into Trump.
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The 123-page report, which was written by Republican staffers of the House Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs panels, says that the evidence provided by Democrats is not enough to impeach the president and called the Democrats’ continued efforts to impeach Trump “an orchestrated campaign to upend our political system,” Roll Call reported.
The White House told House Democrats on Sunday that they will not take part in the House Judiciary Committee’s first impeachment hearing, after being invited by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler.
The news comes after Nadler asked Trump on Friday if he would be sending his lawyers to the impeachment hearing scheduled for Dec. 4. Nadler also asked Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee which witnesses they plan to ask permission to subpoena for the hearings in letters sent to Trump, the Associated Press reported.
Despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s early reluctance to push for impeachment, there are currently 228 Democrats who support impeachment or an impeachment inquiry. Pelosi has said she believes Trump is “goading” Democrats to impeach him because he thinks it will help him fire up his base.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) raised approximately $1 million dollars the day after Pelosi came out in favor of the impeachment of Trump for the first time after meeting with her caucus. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: We Asked Every GOP Senator About Impeachment. Seven Ruled It Out.)
Democrats have continued to send congressional subpoenas to those close to Trump for documents related to the ongoing scandal regarding Trump’s phone call with the President of Ukraine and whether Trump asked him to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for U.S. military aid to Ukraine. The House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight committees are all investigating Trump, his cabinet members, and closest allies.
Many of Pelosi’s Democratic colleagues previously pushed for impeaching Trump, including Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green, who broke with Pelosi when he vowed to force a vote to impeach Trump in late March. Green, who previously had several bills to impeach Trump overwhelmingly rejected by the House of Representatives, called for a third impeachment vote. Pelosi said impeachment was “just not worth it” in a March interview. (RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Comes Out In Favor Of Impeachment)
Pelosi previously said she would not hold a full vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry, which Trump has continued to call for.