Donald Trump impeachment News

The US Senate acquitted former US President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. The Senate vote of 57-43 fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection.

A US Supreme Court decision is expected soon on whether Manhattan District Attorney can obtain eight years of Trump’s tax records and other financial information Two people familiar with the district attorney’s criminal probe expect the court to act this month

US Speaker Nancy Pelosi has named impeachment managers ahead of the vote to impeach Trump The team includes three women, four people of colour and lawmakers from states stretching from Rhode Island to California Rep Jamie Raskin will be the lead manager

The votes to convict Trump fell far short of the two-thirds majority required in the 100-seat Senate to remove him from office under the US Constitution.

Senate Democrats have been arguing throughout the two-week trial that lawmakers need to hear from witnesses like John Bolton, Trump`s former national security adviser.

The New York Times cited an unpublished Bolton manuscript as saying that Trump told him he wanted to freeze security aid to Ukraine until its officials helped with investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden.

The assessment from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) was a setback for Trump, but it was unclear if it would figure in his trial in the Republican-led Senate given that key questions such as whether witnesses will testify or new evidence will be considered remain unanswered.

Democratic lawmakers, who represent the House majority, voted along party lines on Dec. 18 to impeach Trump over his dealings with Ukraine.

Seven newly-appointed House managers, who will present the case against Trump at the upcoming Senate trial, then walked across the Capitol to deliver the charges to the Republican-led upper chamber.

While political pundits began predicting an early January trial, Pelosi has now inserted a twist in the storyline after bottling up impeachment. She is asking Senate Republicans what a trial might look like.

The national online survey, conducted in the hours after the House voted along party lines on Wednesday to charge Donald Trump with abusing his office and obstructing Congress, found that the rare and highly contentious act by lawmakers has done little to change minds in a divided country.

A day after the U.S. House of Representatives impeached Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would not yet formally hand off impeachment to the Senate until she got a sense of how Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell would manage the trial.

On Wednesday night, Trump became the third US president to be impeached on Wednesday, as he was formally charged with abuse of power in a historic step that will inflame partisan tensions across a deeply divided America.

The Democratic-led House passed the abuse of power article of impeachment on a largely party-line 230-197 vote. The House then proceeded with a vote on a second article of impeachment charging Donald Trump with obstruction of Congress.

Trump had on Tuesday also written a letter fiercely attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic opposition for destroying American democracy by attempting a coup against the American head of state.

The vote in the Democratic-controlled House is expected to fall almost entirely along party lines, underscoring the deep divide in Congress over Trump`s conduct - and the larger political schism within the nation itself.

Trump`s remarks came in a signed letter addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, released as House lawmakers met to set the rules for debate ahead of Wednesday`s planned vote on two articles of impeachment - formal charges - against the Republican president.

The founders of the United States feared presidents abusing their powers, so they included in the Constitution a process for removing one from office. The president, under the Constitution, can be removed from office for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and misdemeanors."

A divided House Judiciary Committee voted 23-17 along party lines to approve articles of impeachment charging Donald Trump with abusing the power of his office over the Ukraine scandal and obstructing House Democrats` attempts to investigate him for it.

The House Judiciary Committee had been expected to cast its impeachment vote Thursday night. But as debate stretched toward midnight, the panel`s Democratic chairman delayed the proceedings until 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT) Friday, further incensing Republicans after hours of rancorous debate.