Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump have concluded that the president abused his office for political gain and tried to obstruct the probe, according to a highly-anticipated report that will pave the way for articles of impeachment and set the stage for a trial in the Senate.
“The evidence is clear that President Trump used the power of his office to pressure Ukraine into announcing investigations into his political rival, former vice-president Joe Biden, and a debunked conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 election,” senior House Democrats said in releasing the results of their probe. “These investigations were designed to benefit his 2020 presidential re-election campaign.”
The Democratic chairs of the House panels leading the impeachment inquiry — the intelligence, oversight, and foreign affairs committees — said the evidence was clear that “President Trump abused the power of his office for personal and political gain, at the expense of our national security”.