House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Monday that the House will formally hold a vote authorizing the impeachment inquiry later this week. The vote is expected on Thursday.
The Trump administration has resisted cooperating with the impeachment inquiry on the grounds that it is a a big “witch hunt.” But the chorus within the president’s own White House is growing louder that his call with Ukraine was, at minimum, harmful to national security.
The New York Times reported late Monday that “a White House national security official who is a decorated Iraq war veteran plans to tell House impeachment investigators on Tuesday that he heard President Trump appeal to Ukraine’s president to investigate one of his leading political rivals, a request the aide considered so damaging to American interests that he reported it to a superior.”
In her letter about this week’s formal vote, Pelosi wrote, “We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump Administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives.”
Trump is under investigation for pressuring a foreign government to dig up dirt on a political rival— a move many are calling an abuse of power. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas continues to be the president’s biggest defender, utilizing his Twitter feed to lob distractions and pretend scenarios.
