Facing impeachment, Donald Trump lashes out in rambling, six-page letter to Nancy Pelosi
- US president accuses opponents of declaring war on American democracy in ‘illegal, partisan, attempted coup’
- Republicans and Democrats clash as lawmakers meet to set rules for Wednesday’s impeachment debate
On the eve of his expected impeachment in the US House of Representatives, President Donald Trump accused Democrats of pursuing an “illegal, partisan attempted coup” and declaring war on American democracy as they seek to remove him from office for pressing Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden.
Trump’s remarks came in a letter he signed addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, released as House lawmakers met to set the rules for debate ahead of Wednesday’s planned vote on two articles of impeachment – formal charges – against Trump.
The rambling, six-page letter on White House letterhead largely restated the president’s objections to the impeachment probe, but did so in accusatory and sometimes spiteful language that attacked Pelosi, congressional Democrats, Trump’s political rivals and institutions such as the FBI.
Pelosi, Trump wrote, “is turning the House of Representatives from a revered legislative body into a Star Chamber of partisan persecution” while “scarcely concealing your hatred of me”.
The impeachment probe, the president said, is an “an illegal, partisan attempted coup that will, based on recent sentiment, badly fail at the voting booth,” alluding to the November 2020 US presidential election in which he is seeking another four years in office.