The US House of Representatives has voted to formally proceed with the impeachment inquiry of the President, Donald Trump.
The vote, which went mostly along party lines at 232 to 196, was the first real test of Democrat support for impeachment. The measure is not a vote on whether to impeach the President, writes the BBC, but rather detailed how the inquiry will become a more public undertaking.
Per the BBC, two Democrats voted against the resolution, which has been roundly condemned by the White House.
The impeachment inquiry stems from President Trump's dealings with Ukraine - he is accused of attempting to pressure the nation into investigating corruption claims against political rival Joe Biden, as well as Biden's son.
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In a statement issued after the vote, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said;
“The President has done nothing wrong, and the Democrats know it. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats’ unhinged obsession with this illegitimate impeachment proceeding does not hurt President Trump; it hurts the American people...
“With today’s vote, Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats have done nothing more than enshrine unacceptable violations of due process into House rules. ... The Democrats want to render a verdict without giving the Administration a chance to mount a defense. That is unfair, unconstitutional, and fundamentally un-American.”
Ivanka Trump, meanwhile, appears to have responded to the day's events by quoting Thomas Jefferson. She took to Twitter to write;
"“…surrounded by enemies and spies catching and perverting every word that falls from my lips or flows from my pen, and inventing where facts fail them.” -Thomas Jefferson’s reflections on Washington, D.C. in a letter to his daughter Martha. Some things never change, dad!"
NBC News reports that it's anticipated Democrats will begin holding public hearings in order to present testimony against the President.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to write, "The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!"