Following a vote by the House of Representatives, President Donald Trump was impeached on Wednesday, NBC News has reported.
Trump becomes the third president in the history of the US to be impeached by Congress, following a 10-hour debate speculating if the POTUS violated his oath in pressuring Ukraine to damage a political opponent.
Per NPR, the president was impeached on two articles. The first was to impeach him for abuse of power and was almost entirely on party lines, resulting in a vote of 230-197. The second was over Trump's obstruction of Congress, which resulted in a vote of 229-198.
Trump is accused of "multiple federal crimes" following conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, asking for an investigation into Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden.
ABC News reports that Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the official decision, which has subsequently set up a Senate trial by the the GOP-controlled Senate in January.
NBC News states that it is likely that Trump will be acquitted, seeing as a two-thirds majority is required for conviction and removal from office.
Trump took the stage at a campaign rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, just minutes prior to the votes on Wednesday night, and told the cheering crowd:
"It doesn't really feel like we're being impeached. The country is doing better than ever before. We did nothing wrong. And we have tremendous support in the Republican Party like we have never had before. Nobody has ever had this kind of support."
Pelosi took to the House floor to state that it was imperative to impeach a president for the first time in two decades due to the fact Trump is "an ongoing threat to our national security and the integrity of our elections."
She continued: "It is an established fact the president violated the Constitution."
Speaking on the House floor, Republican member of the United States House of Representatives Debbie Lesko stated: "I believe this is the most unfair, politically biased rigged process that I have seen in my entire life."
"This is the most partisan impeachment in the history of the United States. Not one Republican voted for it in the Judiciary Committee ... not one Republican, I don't think, is going to vote for it here today."
- UPDATE -
Per the Daily Mail, Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated at a press conference on Wednesday night that she will not send the articles of impeachment to the Senate until she feels they’ll get a fair hearing. She said:
"We have legislation approved by the Rules Committee that will enable us to decide how we will send over the articles of impeachment. We cannot name [impeachment] managers until we see what the process is on the Senate side.
"So far we haven't seen anything that looks fair to us. So hopefully it will be fairer. And when see what that is, we'll send our managers."
Reading from a piece of paper an aide handed her, Pelosi continued:
"Let me tell you what I don't consider a fair trial.
"This is what I don't consider a fair trial, that Leader McConnell has stated that he's not an impartial juror, that he's going to take his 'cues' from the White House, and he is working in total coordination with the White House counsel's office."
Pelosi was referring to Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who had previously said he's not an "impartial" juror. Pelosi stated that she won't hand him the baton without a pledge of "fairness".
