WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment Tuesday against President Donald
Trump — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — pushing toward historic votes over charges he
corrupted the U.S. election process and endangered national security.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, flanked by the chairmen of the impeachment inquiry committees, stood at the Capitol
in what she called a "solemn act.” Voting is expected in a matter of days in the Judiciary
Committee and by Christmas in the full House.
"He endangers our democracy, he endangers our national security," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler,
D-N.Y., the Judiciary chairman announcing the charges before a portrait of George Washington. "Our
next election is at risk… That is why we must act now."
The charges unveiled Tuesday stem from Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to announce investigations of his
political rivals as he withheld aid to the country.
Trump tweeted ahead of the announcement that impeaching a president with a record like his would be
"sheer Political Madness!"
The outcome, though, appears increasingly set as the House prepares for voting, as it has only three
times in history against a U.S. president.
In drafting the articles of impeachment, Pelosi is facing a legal and political challenge of balancing
the views of her majority while hitting the Constitution’s bar of "treason, bribery or other high
crimes and misdemeanors."
Some liberal lawmakers wanted more expansive charges encompassing the findings from former special
counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Centrist Democrats
preferred to keep the impeachment articles more focused on Trump’s actions toward Ukraine. House
Democrats have announced two articles of impeachment charging President Donald Trump with abuse of power
and obstruction of Congress.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are expected to unveil two articles of impeachment Tuesday against
President Donald Trump — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — pushing toward historic votes as
the president insists he did "NOTHING" wrong.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of the morning announcement that Trump tried to "corrupt our
upcoming elections" and remains a "threat to our democracy and national security."
Pelosi said in a tweet that the House was taking next steps to "defend’ the democracy."
Democratic leaders are laying out next steps after their impeachment inquiry determined Trump put U.S.
elections and national security at risk when he asked Ukraine to investigate his rivals, including
Democrat Joe Biden, while withholding needed military aid. They say he then tried to obstruct Congress’
investigation.
Trump, meanwhile, insisted he did "NOTHING" wrong and that impeaching a president with a record
like his would be "sheer Political Madness!"
Democrats have not public released their plans. Details were shared by multiple people familiar with the
discussions but not authorized to discuss them and granted anonymity.
Pelosi declined during an event Monday evening to discuss the articles or the coming announcement.
Details were shared by multiple people familiar with the discussions but not authorized to discuss them
and granted anonymity.
When asked if she has enough votes to impeach the Republican president, Pelosi leader said she would let
House lawmakers vote their conscience.
"On an issue like this, we don’t count the votes. People will just make their voices known on
it," Pelosi said at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council. "I haven’t counted votes, nor will
I."
The outcome, though, appears increasingly set as the House prepares to vote, as it has only three times
in history against a U.S. president.
Trump, who has declined to mount a defense in the impeachment proceedings, tweeted Tuesday just as the
five Democratic House committee chairmen prepared to make their announcement.
"To Impeach a President who has proven through results, including producing perhaps the strongest
economy in our country’s history, to have one of the most successful presidencies ever, and most
importantly, who has done NOTHING wrong, is sheer Political Madness! #2020Election," he wrote on
Twitter.
The president also spent part of Monday tweeting against the impeachment proceedings. He and his allies
have called the process "absurd."
Pelosi convened a meeting of the impeachment committee chairmen at her office in the Capitol late Monday
following an acrimonious, nearly 10-hour hearing at the Judiciary Committee, which could vote as soon as
this week.
"I think there’s a lot of agreement," Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the Democratic chairman of
the Foreign Affairs committee, told reporters as he exited Pelosi’s office. "A lot of us believe
that what happened with Ukraine especially is not something we can just close our eyes to."
At the Judiciary hearing, Democrats said Trump’s push to have Ukraine investigate rival Joe Biden while
withholding U.S. military aid ran counter to U.S. policy and benefited Russia as well as himself.
"President Trump’s persistent and continuing effort to coerce a foreign country to help him cheat to
win an election is a clear and present danger to our free and fair elections and to our national
security," said Dan Goldman, the director of investigations at the House Intelligence Committee,
presenting the finding of the panel’s 300-page report of the inquiry.
Republicans rejected not just Goldman’s conclusion of the Ukraine matter; they also questioned his very
appearance before the Judiciary panel. In a series of heated exchanges, they said Rep. Adam Schiff, the
chairman of the Intelligence Committee, should appear rather than sending his lawyer.
From the White House, Trump tweeted repeatedly, assailing the "Witch Hunt!" and "Do
Nothing Democrats."
In drafting the articles of impeachment, Pelosi is facing a legal and political challenge of balancing
the views of her majority while hitting the Constitution’s bar of "treason, bribery or other high
crimes and misdemeanors."
Some liberal lawmakers wanted more expansive charges encompassing the findings from former special
counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Centrist Democrats
preferred to keep the impeachment articles more focused on Trump’s actions toward Ukraine.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., was blunt as he opened Monday’s hearing, saying, "President Trump put
himself before country."
Trump’s conduct, Nadler said at the end of the daylong hearing, "is clearly impeachable."
Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Republican on the committee, said Democrats are racing to jam
impeachment through on a "clock and a calendar" ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
"They can’t get over the fact that Donald Trump is the president of the United States, and they
don’t have a candidate that can beat him," Collins said.
In one testy exchange, Republican attorney Stephen Castor dismissed the transcript of Trump’s crucial
call with Ukraine as "eight ambiguous lines" that did not amount to the president seeking a
personal political favor.
Democrats argued vigorously that Trump’s meaning could not have been clearer in seeking political dirt on
Biden, his possible opponent in the 2020 election.
The Republicans tried numerous times to halt or slow the proceedings, and the hearing was briefly
interrupted early on by a protester shouting, "We voted for Donald Trump!" The protester was
escorted from the House hearing room by Capitol Police.
The White House is refusing to participate in the impeachment process. Trump and and his allies
acknowledge he likely will be impeached in the Democratic-controlled House, but they also expect
acquittal next year in the Senate, where Republicans have the majority.
The president was focused instead on Monday’s long-awaited release of the Justice Department report into
the 2016 Russia investigation. The inspector general found that the FBI was justified in opening its
investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia and that the FBI did not act
with political bias, despite "serious performance failures" up the bureau’s chain of command.

Democrats say Trump abused his power in a July 25 phone call when he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskiy for a favor in investigating Democrats. That was bribery, they say, since Trump was
withholding nearly $400 million in military aid that Ukraine depended on to counter Russian aggression.

Pelosi and Democrats point to what they call a pattern of misconduct by Trump in seeking foreign
interference in elections from Mueller’s inquiry of the Russia probe to Ukraine.
In his report, Mueller said he could not determine that Trump’s campaign conspired or coordinated with
Russia in the 2016 election. But Mueller said he could not exonerate Trump of obstructing justice in the
probe and left it for Congress to determine.
___
Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Laurie Kellman, Matthew Daly and Eric Tucker contributed to this
report.