The premising question seeking answers in the U.S and its spectating countries in the world is: Could President Donald Trump Be Booted Out of The White House By The House of Representatives?
Note, the underlining word is booted (removed) and not impeached from the White House. “To be impeached” and “to be removed”- from office are two dissimilar phrases/words. If an American president is impeached by the House, he would need to be furthered to the Senate for sanctioning by removal or relieving by acquittal.
President Donald Trump, the 45th POTUS (President of The United States) is facing a vociferous barking from the U.S House of Representatives for impeachment. To be fully detailed on this impeachment process, we need to satisfy ourselves on the impeachment claim:
Using the POTUS office to solicit interference from a foreign country on a political opponent- an act deemed a misdemeanor by Article II, Section 4 of the U.S Constitution as the Democrats want to fit it.
Details of The Accusation
Trump has been accused by a whistleblower, whose identity has only been revealed as a former CIA official and detailed to the National Security Council, to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson for wrong doing.
“I have received information from multiple U.S government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country to investigate one of his [the President’s] main domestic political rivals [Joe Biden],” the whistleblower alleges. “The President’s personal lawyer, Rudolph ‘Rudy’ Giulliani, is a central figure in this effort. Attorney General, Bill Bar appears to be involved as well.”
In lieu of leaking his information to the press, he followed the professional path by reporting it to the inspector general, who under the Whistleblower Protection Act, forwarded it to Joseph Maguire, Director of National Intelligence. Maguire cut the reporting chain by not advancing it to Congress. Rather, he sought direction from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, where the whistleblower’s report was deemed not credible nor a matter of “urgent concern,” so Maguire could sit on it. Meanwhile, such discretionary powers were not fitted to the director nor the office of Legal Counsel Offices.
However, the content of the held-up report saw light by 19th September. The subject of the whistleblower’s report was Trump’s request to Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian, actor, film producer and an economist turned a politician who had won a landslide electoral victory to succeed Petro Poroshenko as President of Ukraine, to grin up an investigation into Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s (a former vice president to the 44th POTUS, Barack Obama and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate) son. Fast forward, the White House transcript of the Trump-Zelensky phone call and the whistleblower’s report became public on September 25 and 26. Post this public knowledge, Trump and his White House officials have sought to discredit and unveil the whistleblower’s identity in tweets.
Pelosi, emboldened by the Democrats’ preponderance of the House of Representatives put in vote an impeachment inquiry to decide the fate of Trump to possibly be the third U.S president after Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton in 1868 and 1998 to be impeached correspondingly.
Richard Nixon cannot be counted impeached because prior to his impeachment in 1974 resigned. His was for obstruction of justice and abuse of power related to the Watergate burglary cover-up. And Johnson’s was for firing a Cabinet Secretary in violation of a law passed by Congress and concurrently insulting the Congress. Clinton’s sin was for perjury and obstruction of justice for his attempt to cover-up his leaked affair with Monica Lewinsky. Nonetheless, an impeached Trump would not mean he would be moved from office while he could be acquitted or saved by the Senate in a ‘Clintonesque’ fate.
After opening up the impeachment inquiry by vote, Pelosi has now handed the baton to Adam Bennett Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to run the impeachment steeplechase. Schiff seems to be much interested in this task and well cut for the job, something Robert Mueller found hard to do.
Initial revelations divulge Trump’s request to Zelensky, both former TV personalities, to dig up on Hunter Biden’s (inversely on Joe Biden’s) role in the infamous Burisma saga for financial support or risk losing out on the U.S $400M military aid to Ukraine- an act which would be classified a quid pro quo. “I would like you to do us a
” Trump asked Zelensky, who in turn, “I favour though, would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps specifically, we are almost ready to buy more javelins from the United States for defense”
Continuing, Trump asked Mr. Zelensky and his Ukraine government to liaise with Rudy Giullaini and Bill Bar to find out what is about the 49year old Hunter Biden in the Burisma saga that Biden stopped Viktor Shokhin, the Ukraine prosecutor then, from investigating the alleged corrupt Burisma case and even getting him fired from office. Biden Snr admits to his involvement in Shokhin’s firing and how he threatened U.S would withhold its $1bn in aid to Ukraine unless Shokhin was fired, something that raises eyebrows on why Biden Snr would go such length to curtail an investigation into an alleged corruption- a future tone that Trump would use for himself in his political quest.
Trump would not be now seen a political malefactor if Joe Biden had retired from public service but for him to be canvassing to be a Democrat presidential candidate as the main domestic political opponent of Trump, establishes Trump’s wrongful commitment.
Who Are The Key Actors In The Frame?
Some key actors in what has now become a lasso for Trump to loosen are Kurt Volker, Gordon Sondland and William Taylor. Kurt, until recently was U.S government’s special envoy to Ukraine, played the role of a go-between for the White House and Zelensky’s government, appearing to have a hand in urging Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. In his evidence to lawyers in Congress, Mr. Kurt implies a visit by Zelensky to Washington could only be permitted if he agreed to investigate the Bidens. On his part, Gordon Sondland, who is the U.S ambassador to the European Union and also a known ally of President Donald Trump: a $1M donor to Trump’s inauguration committee, after denying in a closed-door testimony to Congress the threat of withholding military aid to Ukraine for political reasons, later in an about-turn, admitted to telling Ukraine officials that the [U.S] aid hinged on they opening a political inquiry into the Bidens. For a senior diplomat and acting U.S ambassador to Ukraine, Mr. William ‘Bill’ Taylor revealed damning explosive testimony so far in the inquiry that his “clear understanding” was that Mr. Trump had decided to withhold a U.S military aid because he wanted Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.
At least three sure same-pathed witnesses. A clear mention can be made of Acting White House Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney in his famous “Get over it” comment on October 17. Mulvaney had told reporters the norm in U.S foreign policy for the U.S to incentivize another country to do what Washington wants, a bold response to whether or not the Washington seat had withheld aid to Kiev in exchange for an agreement to look into the Burisma and the Bidens. What then is about the Burisma Holdings Ltd and what has it got to do with the Bidens, specifically Joe Biden through his son, Hunter Biden, who was a board member of Burisma?
The Burisma Inside Story
Burisma Holding Ltd, a Ukrainian energy company in the oil and gas industry, is owned by Mykola Zlochevsky, a multimillionaire and former Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources. The levelled allegations are stated as money-laundering, tax violations and licenses given to Burisma when Zlochevsky was a minister, an act considered unfair and sparking conflict of interest. The Eastern European company is accused of escaping corruption investigations by employing allies and officials of leaders of world power governments, a routine reason that Zlochevsky offered to employ Hunter from the Obama-Biden government as a director to provide advice on legal issues, corporate finance and strategy for his five- year term on the board from 2014 until April 2019, even when he is accused of not being a qualified staff but for his father’s role as a VPOTUS; something Zlochevsky would only allow on terms as a smokescreen.
Mr. Zlochevsky knew getting Hunter an employment would get Biden Snr on his side by the following narrative:
The Obama administration was in support of Ukraine in an ongoing conflict with Russia. They had learnt that corruption allegations against Ukranian officials including Zlochevsky, was a major impediment to strengthening Ukraine but Viktor Shokhin as a prosecutor general investigating one of Ukraine’s officials, Zlochevsky and his company, would not indorse. For his political correctness and strict adherence to his official duties, Viktor was cleared off the gate. By analysis, the Obama-Biden government was for Petro Povoshenko’s Ukraine government against Putin and his Russian government.
Then Putin allegedly somehow, had Trump into the White House, an act that Mueller spun on in attempting Trump’s impeachment. For this gesture in return, Trump would have to back Moscow against Kiev but Trump would characteristically see out his personal gain first, and that was fishing out what Petro and his Ukrainian officials had under their sleeves. By this he would move on to befriend or get Petro’s successor, President Zelensky, on his side. And the former comedian would not fail in that regard. Trump knows that by exhuming the Burisma debris, he would possibly find a Hunter-tatter down the furrow of corruption and hold it up against Joe Biden and possibly clash his presidential bid, a similar act he used on Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Hope you remember the infamous Hillary –Iraq mails?
Now that we have arguably satisfied ourselves on the “Why” of the Trump impeachment inquiry and the Burisma saga and their key actors, let us move down to understand:
The Impeachment Process
The impeachment of a POTUS starts with the House of Representatives accusing the president of high crimes and
misdemeanors- and the first step towards potentially removing the president from office. This, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, would have to first put into vote to open an impeachment inquiry or not, by the House’s Intelligence Committee. Guess you remember Pelosi’s backlashes from President Trump?
After a majority vote to open an arraignment inquiry, Pelosi launched Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House of Intelligence Committee, into opening a formal inquiry. If the president is found culpable, he is then duly impeached, a doom Johnson and Clinton could not escape in 1868 and 1998 separately.
However, because this impeachment process is merely a political process and not legally an end in itself, it is subject to the accentuation of the Senate which will hold a legal trial to either remove or acquit an impeached president. Andrew Johnson at this stage, was unlucky but Clinton would be saved by this most important last hurdle to continue as America’s president until 2000.
Supposition
According to the U.S Constitution, Article II, Section 4:
“The President, Vice President and all Civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and Conviction of Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
For High Crimes and Misdemeanors, Trump is threatened with removal from office. But wait! How vague is this aspect seen? The “high crimes and misdemeanors” seems to be left to the discretionary interpretation of Congress if it considers an act egregious abuse of office. So should Trump’s request for a foreign country to investigate a matter of concern to the U.S as a foreign policy for military aid be considered a “quid pro quo” and a “misdemeanor” or “abuse of office”? Well, let us wait until Adam Schiff’s House Intelligence Committee answers us.
“The President, Vice President and all Civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and Conviction of Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
EVANS. AGYEKUM: Thanks for your reading-time. Hope you enjoyed the article and had a clearer understanding of what has currently brought America to a ‘halt’ and got the rest of the world sneezing. Kindly send your comments and views on this article to me through email: [email protected]. – By Evans Agyekum December 5, 2019
Source: OccupyGh.com
Tap To Join Our WhatsApp Community
You must be logged in to post a comment Login