Donald Trump blasts impeachment inquiry as ‘Witch Hunt garbage’ as Nancy Pelosi declares: ‘No one is above the law’

US President Donald Trump denounced a decision by House Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry as “Witch Hunt garbage”, while also claiming it would help his re-election chances in 2020. The president, who was in New York for his third United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, returned to Trump Tower in Manhattan for what White House officials described as “executive time” shortly before the top US Democrat Nancy Pelosi announced the decision. He sent a series of tweets minutes later. “Such an important day at the United Nations, so much work and so much success, and the Democrats purposely had to ruin and demean it with more breaking news Witch Hunt garbage,” Trump tweeted. “So bad for our Country!” Such an important day at the United Nations, so much work and so much success, and the Democrats purposely had to ruin and demean it with more breaking news Witch Hunt garbage. So bad for our Country! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019 The president followed up with a tweet naming the chairs of several of the committees that have been investigating him for years, then fired off a two-word missive in all caps: “PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!” A short time earlier, as word of Pelosi’s decision first emerged, an agitated Trump said: “If she does that, they all say that’s a positive for me, for the election”. Upon awaking on Wednesday morning, he took to Twitter to complain that “there has been no President in the history of our Country who has been treated as badly as I have”. The dramatic move by the Democrats - the first step in a complex process that stands little chance of driving Trump from office - pushed US politics into a perilous new chapter just 14 months before new elections for control of the White House and Congress. “The actions of the Trump presidency revealed the dishonourable facts of the president’s betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections,” Pelosi told a highly anticipated news conference in the US capital. “Therefore, today I’m announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.” Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and other Democratic Party leaders had resisted taking the step for months, preferring to focus on the coming election fight. But a combination of the newest allegations that Trump offered Ukraine aid in return for help to damage Democratic White House frontrunner Biden, and a groundswell of support for impeachment among the party’s rank and file, appeared to tip the balance. “The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law,” she said. Explained: how Ukraine found itself at the heart of the Trump impeachment scandal Stocks slumped in Europe and Asia on the news, while the US index futures slipped as investors weighed the deepening political gridlock in Washington. The ramped-up push for impeachment was fuelled by a scandal over Trump’s reported attempt to pressure the incoming president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to open a corruption investigation into Biden, and Biden’s son Hunter, who had done business in the Eastern European country. Triggering the confrontation was an as yet secret whistle-blower complaint reportedly centred on Trump’s phone call July 25 with Zelensky. Seeking to head off the looming impeachment threat, Trump announced he would release the transcript of the call. “You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo!” he tweeted. Trump has admitted discussing Biden with Zelensky, but denies he tied hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Kiev to it investigating the former US vice-president. On Tuesday the US leader said he had frozen aid to Ukraine, but only to force European allies to increase their own support for Zelensky’s government. Impeachment in America: a look back at the famous cases Trump’s decision to release the transcript was too little to appease Democrats, who are demanding the White House release to Congress the complaint from the intelligence community whistle-blower, believed to contain additional evidence of wrongdoing. Lawyers representing the whistle-blower said in a statement on Tuesday that there had been a “decision to release the whistle-blower complaint”, but did not provide further details. Democrats also want more documents and testimony on other investigations into Trump, on allegations he obstructed justice, illegally profiteered from his position as US leader, colluded with Russia and other alleged abuses. Setting up more Washington drama, senior Democrat Adam Schiff said the still-unidentified whistle-blower, believed to work for one of the US government’s myriad intelligence bodies, could soon testify to the House Intelligence Committee, which he leads. Explained: why House Democrats shifted to favour Trump impeachment inquiry now The New York Times reported on Tuesday that intelligence and White House officials were working on a deal for the whistle-blower to meet with congressional investigators. Having held off for weeks, Biden himself declared his support for an impeachment investigation on Tuesday. “If he continues to obstruct Congress and flaunt the law, Donald Trump leaves Congress in my view no choice but to initiate impeachment,” Biden said. “That would be a tragedy, but a tragedy of his own making.” Launching an impeachment probe is a politically perilous move, coming just as both parties begin to gear up for next year’s elections. Trump says White House re-election ‘easier’ if he is impeached Now that a formal inquiry has been made, a committee would normally be assigned the task of gathering evidence to support the case against the president. If the evidence is firm enough, the committee will draft articles of impeachment - formal charges against the president - for the entire House to vote on. They can pass with a simple majority. From there the process would go to the Senate, where the Republican majority could conceivably block a formal trial of the president. If a trial is held, conviction would require two-thirds of the Senate to vote in support, leading to the president’s removal. Tribune News Service, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Bloomberg